Tripudio Viridis Quod Rutilus Incendia Virgo
by Rutilus I. V
Summary: 3 friends accidentally may have a huge impact on the world of FF7. Will the ties of friendship be enough to save them from their new twist of fate? Or will they go insane? Dark, but some fluff. Takes place after AC. New chapter: "Urban Adversity"
1. It Began At Anime Boston

A/N : Hey guys, I have finally started writing my story! Yay! Just so you know, this is going to get real dark real quick, but will have intermissions of fluffyness. This first chapter is less detailed, but just gives a general intro, and future chapters will be more enlightening. W00t.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything realted to Final Fantasy 7, just my ideas and any OCs.

P.S. - I take college courses, and work two jobs, so if I fail to update quickly, please do not shoot me. Even if its at a cliffhanger. (*evil chuckle*)YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!

P.P.S. - See that little button at the bottom? Review! :D yay!

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Chapter One: Curiosity Kills. Or at least, ruins your life as you know it.

May 22, 2010

The two girls couldn't have been any different, and yet they were best friends. One had dirty-blond hair, (although it was dyed silver for the occasion,) which went down to almost her waist. The other had black hair naturally, but, as it was only barely past her shoulders, and the character she was cosplaying had much longer hair, she also wore a black wig. One was atheistic, the other, Christian. One was a liberal, the other, a conservative. One swore constantly, as a fluent second language, the other only when really angry. One was a math and antropology double major, the other biochemistry and pre-med. But they both shared many hobbies, and had been roomates in their freshman year of college.

Now, two years later, they were finally able to both go to Anime Boston together, along with some other fan-girl friends (and one guy.)  
For the black-wig girl, it was her first time. That girl was me.

And I was hungry.

"Laaady Sephiroooooth," I moaned, fiddling with the mantle of my red Vincent costume,  
"I'm staaarrrviiinng!"

"Lady Sephiroth", otherwise known as Amelia, turned aroung to face me, her green eyes (hurrah for expensive contact lenses) narrowing in exasperation. "I _told_ you guys we all would have to pack our own lunches! I'm not supposed to be responsible for feeding you!"

"I know," I continued whining, causing passersby to stare at the Vincent who acted more like Yuffie, "But I ate it all already, and I'm still hungry!"

Amelia groaned at my stupidity, and I made a pleading puppy-face at her.

"Jenni, how you stay so damn skinny is beyond me."

"I'm not skinny!"

"You so are!"

Jokingly, I pulled out my makeshift Cerberus gun, and laughed, "Oh yeah, Lady Sephy?"

Amelia smiled and picked up her own home-made creation weapon - a paper foam and spray paint Masamune. A small crowd of Final Fantasy VII fans gathered around us, including our other friends who were supposedly holding our spots in "the giant line of d00m". I felt a little embarrassed, and slightly nervous with a crowd of fans around us cheering for a fight between Vincent and Sephiroth, but since Amelia was in her element, and the idea of a paparazzi sounded cool, I continued play-fighting with her. Amelia had taken fencing before, so her moves were more styled and graceful than mine; I had taken ballet for two years in elementary school, but that doesn't really count.

All of a sudden, Amelia pulled what I shall call her "Sephy-smirk", which is infamous among our close friends because it always makes me react the same way.

"Pbbbt!! HAHAHAHAAAHAhhaaaaaa...."

I pointed at her with "Cerberus" for a moment, and then burst out laughing, eventually dying onto the floor in a heap. I don't really know why, it just suddenly became extremely humorous. Maybe its the idea of Amelia being Sephiroth? I don't know, but regardless, when I tweaked out, the crowd became confused, and finally dissipated altogether, after taking a few shots of the mentally deranged Vincent crumpled up on the ground, laughing her head off even with the "Masamune" chopping off her appendages and head repeatedly.

Amelia eventually stopped smirking her torment on me and joined in laughing, too.

* * *

Three coca colas, two hours of waiting in line, being ridiculous and trying to fend off boredom via recording us singing like we were high on my cell phone later...

"Oh man, Amy, do you know where the bath room is?"

"..."

"I have seriously got to go!"

"We're so close to the end of the line, and you choose i now /i to need to pee?"

"Umm, well I had a lot of drinks, and I..."

"Alright, alright, here, I'll go with you cause I don't want you to get lost in this mob on me."

Thank goodness, thank you Amy, I thought, as we ducked and weaved through random bodies in our path, desperately searching for a sign of a bathroom anywhere. I found one, but it had yellow caution tape all over it and a cone in front. Amelia dragged me away as I tried to sneak past a janitor to just use the bathroom anyway.

"UGH!" Growled Amelia, "What if the rest of the group is already at the end of the line by now?!"

"You know you love me, Amy," I grinned cheekily.

We saw a security guard by some stairs (the huge line of d00m going past him, but not looping up or even down the stairs for once) and mutually agreed to just ask him for directions. As we approached him, Amelia turned to me with a tired but mischievous smile, "Jenni, I don't think you're exactly a Vincent personality. But I'm glad you could finally come with us to Anime Boston, and you do look good in red."

I laughed, thanked her for the compliment, and asked the guy in front of us for directions.

"Sure, just up these stairs, I think, but you're not really supposed to go up there..."

I made a panicked face to show I was just _dying_ and it _was_ an absolute emergency.

"...But", the poor guy continued quickly and with face reddening with embarrassment,"I'm sure you ladies won't get into trouble, right?"

We dashed past him gratefully and bounded up the stairs, but realized when we got up there that the long, winding hallway was completely dark. I got a little nervous, but we continued on anyways.

"The sooner we find you the bathroom, the sooner we can catch up with the others," Amelia spoke quieter, since the hallway echoed.

I nodded, speedwalking a little faster, turning the corner -

- and stopped. What the heck was that?

A door to a room right at the turn of the corner had been left slightly ajar, and various colored lights shone pretty patterns of rainbow speckles on to the wall opposite it.

"Wow," I breathed, glancing back at Amelia, who shrugged, and was probably wanting me to leave the door alone,  
but I pushed the heavy oak door with a good shove anyway.

"Oh. My. GOD!!!!" Amelia squealed, and I beamed, _my thoughts exactly_.

Either we had landed in a giant Chuck E Cheese net full of preschool toy balls, or there were lots of materia replicas in here, safely hidden from the eyes of greedy collector fangirls. Sort of.

We darted all around the huge room, which was probably as big as half a high school gymnasium, and proceeded to pick up and hold every little pretty brightly colored orb in sight, the bathroom trip and the con event we had been in line for long forgotten. Amelia and I each did an interpretation of Yuffie, squealing, "Where's my materia?!"There were some of every color, some slightly bigger or smaller than others, and there were a couple that were...unique.

Such as the one I found.

Which I never should have touched.

Which I should never have let my best friend touch.

Why oh why couldn't I have just gone off, left it alone, and lived a normal life?

Because, I am a very curious person, and this shiny ball with dark purple mists in it, and red lightning in the "clouds" within it seemed very mysterious and awesome to me.

Well, curiousity killed the cat.

"GASP! Amy!!! Come look at this one!" I beckoned Amelia over with wild arm movements, my eyes wide with delight, and Amelia came to observe this strange orb as well.

"Woah...wonder what the heck kind of materia that's supposed to be?" She muttered softly, looked at me with eyes of amazement, and I grinned, offering her the orb.

As soon as both of our hands touched and were holding the orb for the split second it takes to hand someone an object, the orb began humming, whizzing, and shining an angry, brilliant white, blinding us temporarily and filling the entire room with suffocating white light. We both screamed and dropped the orb immediately, but the damage was done. "OH MY GOD!" "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" "WE'RE SO FUCKING SCREWED!" etc., etc., we were both shrieking and frantically made a dash for the door -

- which was gone, and the room did, too.

All that existed was us, crouched and huddled together on a non-existent floor, with empty space all around us,all white and painful, and the feeling of flying at tremedous speeds without appearing to physically move. My hair began whipping all around, and then Amelia's too, wildly flapping behind us, and we held on to each other the more tightly with fear. I could barely hear her over the power of the chilling air whistling through us, when she yelled another string of obscenities.

The orb was not through with its fireworks display yet; the wind increased as a green, and then a red stream of fire swirled around the white blob that shone like a sun and hurt to look at. The red and green things began going around it in orbit, faster and faster, reminding me of electrons around an atoms's core as I squinted at it.

I began praying like mad for it to stop, cursing myself for not having thought of it sooner, when the two colors collided harshly with a crack, and the wind stopped completely. I think I blacked out.

* * *

A/N : Aaaaand there you have it, cliffhanger number one! ^^ Please be kind and review, i'll send you digital cookies through the web!

Or maybe be able to update more quickly! Yaya! ^_____^


	2. Midgar

Hey everyone, here's chapter 2! Finally! And in case anyones wondering about the rating, its gonna go up to M for swearing alot and scary situations and blah. For the moment I'll lower it to T, though, since nothing M worthy is up yet and ppl cant find my story in the search engine right now unless they select M on purpose, since K-T is default. Ok, guess thats about it! I dont get any time to write, but the stories sit in my head and infest my brain,clogging up space for future chapters, so I have to hurry and put the first chapters up so my brain has the space capacity for chaapter 5 and 6 to be forming more clearly. Aaaack! *brain gives up and oozes out ears with a white flag, walks off*

Rutilus: *blinks* well that was weird. ^^ good thing I dont need my brain!

Sephiroth: ...You never had one...

Rutilus: XDD...Hey wait youre insulting me! *cries*

Sephy: *hehehe*

Rutilus: Grrr. Fine meanie, you cant be in my story then.

Sephy: *glares, pulls out Masamune*

Rutilus: OK! OK!!! Like chapter 8? 6 or something?

Disclaimer: We all know Rutilus doesn't own this, or the characters would be bowing to her instead of attacking her.

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"Jenni...Jenni!"

I hear someone calling my name, but after the frightening sensations of that white materia thing, I just want to keep sleeping in this dark blackness, and not open my eyes anytime soon. ....Ahhh, blissful darkness, peace, quiet -

"JENNIFER!" Amelia shouts at me, shaking me hard by the shoulder, which causes me to groan in anguish, realizing the area is bruised.

"What now?" I mutter, sitting up slowly, and groggily opening my eyes. Woah.

Holy. Shit.

I open my mouth and stare dumbly around from the crates we were sitting behind - where there had once been a room of lots of shiny materia-like balls, there now were tall, grey sky scrapers in all directions as far as the eye could see. Minus the itty bitty bit of sky still existing directly above, which was just as dirty and gross looking as the cobblestone ground and dim buildings.

"Where the hell are we, Amelia?" Amelia turned her head from gazing at the surroundings to look at me, the strangest expressions dancing on her face. Confusion, surprise, fear, I could understand. Delighted?

"We're in _Midgar_, Jenni!" She was beaming ecstatically, but I just stared at her with my mouth still open and an eye twitching.

"...Nuh-uh."

"YES! WE ARE IN FUCKING _MIDGAR_!!!" Amelia laughed, and I momentarily panicked - were we really _stuck_ in a video game world?

I looked around frantically for the materia that brought us here in the first place...wait a minute. Boston is a city. We could be in Boston...though I don't remember cobblestone...and I don't think everything was so completely...devoid of color...and I don't see many cars. Just lots of people (also mostly lacking any brightly colored attire) walking around. I probably could be seen from a mile away in my red Vincent costume.

"Amelia," I began almost hopefully in a tone of annoyance, "Did you just drag me outside the building?"

Amelia promptly ceased her laughter and adopted a more serious, though still excited face.

"Do you really think I would lie to you, Chicken?" (that's a nickname she gave me. Mine for her is Goose. Don't ask.)

I still wasn't sure if she was pulling a Lucy-steals-football-from-Charlie-Brown on me. I took a deep breath, "Well considering the circumstances, I am-"

I was suddenly cut off by an extremely loud noise.

_BA-BA-DA-BAAA BA BA BAA-BA-DAAAA!!!_

Swearing shrilly, I pulled myself into a duck and cover fetal position, but the offending blare continued without any imminent signs of danger, so I emerged from my human ball sheepishly.

Now, usually when I pull one of these fraidy-cat moments, Amelia would give me a friendly tease about being so jumpy (for example, the year we were dorm mates, there were many times when it would be perfectly silent in our room for hours and then one of us would get a phone call from someone and the loud ringer would frighten me to death, but I digress). This time, she pulled out her cell phone, stared at it, then back at me in amazement, breathing shakily, "I've never had this ring tone before."

It had taken me a moment to recognize it as the ring tone Loz has in Advent Children, and the triumphant music played in the old Final Fantasy poor graphic games. I realized now that Amelia was just as nervous as I was, and was still trying to convince herself we were in Midgar.

_BA-BA-DA-BAAA BA BA BAA-BA-DAAAA!!!_

We both continued to stare at the phone for two more rings, until finally Amelia answered it, clearing her throat in an attempt to adopt her normal tone of voice.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, where are you guys? Didja fall in?"_

Amelia grumbled, rubbing her back, "Well, about that -"

At first, I didn't realize Shannon was referring to that bathroom trip I was supposed to have been on a journey to half a decade ago, the crash from white blinding blobness the only thing on my current memory scanner. Oh, I never introduced Shannon to you. Well, this conversation will definitely be a starter, but just to back that up, she's into hockey, has long black hair and glasses, kinda nerdy like the rest of us, is an art major, an extremely devoted Zack fan...

_"No, wait, really? HAHA! She did fall in? Hahah..."_

...guess we'll have to get back to that later.

"Shannon, I don't know how to tell you this, but I don't think we're in Boston anymore."

_"Pbbbt!HAAHAHA..."_ You could hear her dying in hysterics. _"So you guys BOTH fell in the toilet?"_

"..." Amelia smacked her face on her forehead, muttering something inaudibly.

_"...Hahahaha..."_ I began listening to Amelia desperately trying unsuccessfully to explain what had happened to us to Shannon, who, of course, like any sane person, didn't buy it, and only laughed even more. Amelia put Shannon in charge of the group, and instructed her to be on guard for any calls we might give her, and Shannon, giggling, asked her to hurry so that we wouldn't miss the whole event we'd been in line for. Ignoring the phone conversation at this point, I began staring at a shiny metal fountain thing in the distance in a half-dreamy sleep mode. Huh. It looked like three people were standing on it now. Weird.

A sudden screaming arose me from my stupor, apparently from tons of crazy people running in our direction. _What on earth?..._ Amelia figured it out sooner than I did, yanking me up by the arm to my feet and abruptly ending the phone call with poor Shannon.

"Come _on_, Jennifer!" Amelia anxiously pushed me to get me started running, too, in the direction opposite the fountain. "Don't you remember Advent Children at all?"

I couldn't tell what the hubbub was about at first, and didn't hear the rest of what Amelia was saying, since the crowd had now started running past us. One woman pointed at Amelia and shrieked, "It's SEPHIROTH!!! RUN!!!!"

I stopped running, and blinked, agape, as all of the crowd quicly fled now as far away from both the area they had originated, (near the fountain) and Amelia as well.

Amelia paused for a moment as well, and we both started laughing our heads off. I turned around to see what the heck we were all fleeing from in the first place, and spotted several black creatures running in our direction...oh. That made sense now. Those people at the fountain were the three Remnants, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz. Which meant that the creature tromping towards me at top speed was one of their mini-Bahamut summon things. More people dashed by, screaming wildly, around us, some being knocked aside and/or mauled by the frightening monsters.

My legs locked in place, and I felt the blood drain out of my head.

Amelia ran about fifteen feet, realized I had stopped moving, and yelled at me to follow her.

I couldn't. I was frozen with fear. You'd think I would've done _something_, but I just stood motionless, with eyes as round as saucers.

Amelia bellowed, "MOVE!!!"

Well, I moved. I clumsily staggered backwards, still facing the beast, now ten feet from me, one leap from it and I would be permanently dead. _Weird way to die_, I thought vaguely. _Being attacked by a monster in a video game._

I heard a snarl from the thing and felt its nasty breath, and heard a loud female yell who sounded like Amelia. I scrunched up my face and braced myself for the impact, but it was much lighter than I expected. I peeked my eyes open, feeling a body squishing me. I smelled blood.

"AMELIA!!!"

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A/N: Well, this part turned out longer than I expected. lol, please don't kill me if I don't tell you the rest quick enough. The next chapter was originally supposed to be part of this one, but since this got so long they will be separate. And once again, enjoy my cliffie! yay! XD

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	3. Shinra Memorial Hospital

Ok, I found out something really cool - people from all over the world have been looking at my story. (Although only 2 ppl from the U.S. reviewed :( *cries* ) It would make me so happy if you guys reviewed! Really! It makes my day when ppl take the time to even say just "Cool". Watch now, somebody's gonna just write the word "Cool" now and that will be their entire review. lol

I got a hit from Switzerland, and France, U.S., and *brain laughs* ugh I cant remember the rest without my brain. Rats. Oh well, Happy Reading! *chases after brain*

Vincent:...Why do I have to be in a story written by _her_?

Sephiroth: Let's just kill her so we can spare people the suffering. Wait. Suffering is good, let her go ahead! ^^

Vincent:...

Seph: What?

Vincent: *raises gun to his head*

Disclaimer guy: As you can see, Rutilus doesn't even have the _brain capacity_ to think of anything like Square Enix. So don't sue her.

Rutilus: *cheers* I caught the brain!

Seph:...Valentine, can you pass me that gun when you're through with it?

* * *

I couldn't see any more mini-Bahamut demons around, so I assumed the Remnants had banished them at this point and were fighting the Turks. I carefully rolled Amelia's body off of me and gave a sharp intake of breath when I saw the three gashes across her stomach through her costume.

Shit.

"...Jenni..." Amelia groaned, wincing in obvious pain.

"Y-you alright?!" I barely could make a coherent sentence in my shock. I never expected to have to see one of my friends get blood all over them. Ever. In my life.

Amelia nodded grimly, and attempted to sit up but the effort caused her to hiss as the wounds opened slightly. Luckily for her, the tiresome work she put into making her Sephiroth costume realistic probably very well saved her life, as the "armor" absorbed a lot more damage than a regular shirt ever would have.

"Am..Amy...You just saved my life!" I squeak, staring at her pale complexion, which usually was tan, and her bleeding stomach, which was still happily ebbing away some precious liquid.

"Ugh...You're welcome...How about gettin me to a -" she was seized by a heavy coughing spell, which only caused her stomach river to bleed a little bit more, "hospital?" she finished with a weak smile, then shut her eyes, biting her lip hard.

I glanced around wildly for anyone in sight willing to help, realized no one was around, and began digging through my purse (which had miraculously made it this far with me) for anything sharp.

The closest I could find was some pens...and my college mailbox key. I began ripping my Vincent cape to make a temporary cloth for stopping the blood flow, and wrapped it around her stomach. This took me about ten minutes, and although I was pretty certain her wounds weren't deep enough to have hurt any organs, I still didn't think I did the job quick enough for Amelia. She needed a hospital, now. But would they take a Sephiroth look-alike?

I frowned at her costume for a moment, knowing she had worked hard on it, and hesitated to rip it off. But her health came first, so I pulled the shoulder plates off and the cape, casting them aside to clutter sadly on the ground.

I spotted a vehicle about 20 yards off which appeared similar to a Jeep, abandoned by its owners during the chaos. I smirked without amusement at the situation, realizing that I would have to drive Amelia to the hospital, without knowing where it was, how to find it, and the worst part was, I was 20 years old and still did not know how to drive, let alone have a driver's license.

_Fuck._

_

* * *

_

Ten minutes later, and a lot closer to the hospital...

_Screeeeeeeee._ **Ba-dump**.

Amelia woke up from her barely conscious state with a start as the car shook.

"What the fuck..." Amelia muttered groggily with effort, holding on to her stomach, for fear it would rupture more, then noticed the "bandage" on it, and looked up to see Jennifer's cloak was half of its original size. Then smiled as her usually kind and sensitive-to-others friend started shouting obscenities at some Chocobo farmer guy and his chocobo herd who had apparently started crossing the sidewalk after the light went green.

"...YOU AND YOUR FUCKING CHICKENS FUCKING GET OFF THE ROAD!" Jenni was yelling in a higher voice than usual, waving her fist, and hocking the horn.

Amelia shook her head, laughing, then, as the jeep sped off again, contributed to the harrassment of the jaywalkers with a middle finger. The chocobo guy waved his fist and said something in other language back, possibly Wutain.

Jennifer swirled around in alarm, hearing Amelia awake, and frantically spoke very quickly, "Are you okay, Amy? I didn't mean to wake you up! That bumb back there probably scared you! I didn't mean to do that, it's just I dont have much practice with driving and-"

Amelia chuckled, brushing Jenni's comments aside with a brush of her hand, "I'm alright at the moment, though this still fucking hurts like hell. But we _definitely_ need to get you driving lessons."

Jennifer blushed with embarrassment, and turned her attention back to the road, shrieking with terror every few minutes about some other car or person in the way.

Amelia went back to sleep peacefully.

* * *

Either Amelia knows she's in good hands, or she's just too exhausted to stay conscious anymore because of my terrible car maneuvering.

Either way, I finally managed to find the hospital. It had a nice, big helpful sign, too: _Shinra Memorial Hospital_.

How very original.

I land the car halfway on the sidewalk and halfway on the fire lane...yes, you read that right, _landed_ the car.

...Hey, it wasn't entirely my fault. When Avalanche is busy saving the day, battling Bahamut, (the big one) it makes the ground shake, thus less stable for driving.

Anyways...I had to abandon Amelia for a moment to drag somebody outside to bring a stretcher, since I didn't think it was wise for her to walk around spilling her guts everywhere.

Ok so she wasn't that unstable, but still. I would think it would be more comfortable.

The hospital attendants were a little hesistant at first, until I convinced them that she was wearing green eye contacts and had dyed her hair silver. Honestly, people. Do you think I'm a Vincent twin or something just because my hair is black and I'm dressed like him?

Never mind.

They carried her into the Emergency Room (ah, so that's why that TV show is called ER!), where there was an _enormous_ line. _Gi-normous._

I guess it shouldn't have surprised me, since the Remnants caused devestation everywhere, but at the moment, the last thing I needed was for Amelia to start having problems because of having to wait for a turn, let alone actually seeing a doctor versus a nurse.

As soon as the hospital attendants left, though, someone else in the dreary line forming inside of the E.R. noticed Amelia's hair and eyes. Hahaha.

"IT'S ANOTHER SEPHIROTH REMNANT!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIVES!!!"

I don't know who originally said it first, but once the one person did, so did all of the rest, and the line virtually disappeared as one big rampage out the door in a scuffle.

Naturally, I roared with laughter, and Amelia smiled when I high-fived her hand, as she was too tired to lift her hand up.

A nurse popped her head out from behind a door to the E.R. "Mr. Jynkins? The doctor will see you..." she gazed around the room in astonishment, "...now..." she finished uncertainly, her eyes landing on me and Amelia.

I gave a small cough. "Ahem, does that mean we're next, then?"

*~*~*~*~*~LATER THAT EVENING~*~*~*~*~*

I couldn't understand why the doctors wouldn't let me see Amelia yet, except I figured that she was still being carefully stitched or she was resting and didn't need to be disturbed at the moment.

Out of boredom, I stared at the walls of the waiting room, then decided to read all of the ads on the wall, since I had nothing better to do to pass the time.

Maybe I could get a job?

I was starting to slowly accept the fact that I might not be able to get home any time soon. It was really bugging me, but as I could not call anyone on my phone list except Shannon (strange as it was, the phone went dead anytime I did) and Amelia was not in any condition to be anywhere except a hospital at the moment, I pushed the fear of being stuck in Midgar instead of my home off to the back of my mind for the moment.

I fingered the two shards of the strange materia in my pocket that brought us here in the first place. I tried putting them back together, but that didn't do anything, and they were a lot smaller now besides. About the size of a thumb, and not bigger than my hand. Amelia had found one, and gave it to me just before she disappeared into the operating room (I followed her all the way to the door, having to be shooed off by some annoying doctors), then found another one stuck in my cloak.

_My cloak? Oh that's right,_ I realized, _I'm still wearing this silly Vincent costume._

Since I was wearing normal clothes underneath, and didn't want to provoke any further stares, I took off my Vincent costume and put it into an empty bag deserted by someone scared off by the "Amelia-Sephiroth". I was wearing my favorite shirt- red, sleeveless, and with frills down the length of the buttons. It would have been low-cut enough to be sexy and not revealing, but that made me nervous, so I wore a long-sleeved black undershirt under it. Ah, red and black, my favorite colors. I peeled the yellow tape off of my black boots, which fit over my black jeans. The yellow tape was used since I possessed no golden metal Vincent boots.

My eyes happened to spot an ad for working at the hospital.

_Dear interested members of the medical community,_

_"...if you are a pre-med student interested in working part-time as a paid intern for the Shinra Memorial Hospital's esteemed scientists, please apply at the front desk. All that is required is a strong desire to learn about the chemistry of the world around you..."_

Well, that sounded pretty fishy. I should have caught on when it read that you didn't need to have any references, and didn't mention a personal essay or academic transcripts. But I was blinded by the words, "_free room and board, in addition to regular pay at $12/hr_".

I felt it was my responsibility to get a job for the both of us, since I was the reason Amelia was wounded in the first place. I could earn us both a place to live and eat!

Ecstatic, I rushed to the secretary at the front desk, and waited patiently for her to hurry up with her pathetic phone call to a friend about dumb gossip. Ugh, she sounded like an ex-cheerleader.

I filled out the application, and she raised one perfectly-plucked eyebrow at me with disdain before accepting the paper back with one manicured, newly painted fingernail hand.

"You're, like, the only one who's signed up for that job. You should have no problem being accepted. You can probably start tomorrow morning."

Triumphant, I walked back over to my pile of junk that sat on top of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs, arranging the bag of vincent costume and purse into a makeshift pillow. Then I took out the remainder of the cape and curled up with it like a blanket, feeling satisfied and relieved that some part of my future was under control.

Breathing deeply, I soon fell fast asleep, unaware of how much danger Amelia was currently in.

* * *

A/N: You know I just had to throw in that cliffhanger, didn't ya?

Oh come on, you know me by now. lol

Vincent: You really should not do that. They might start threatening you or worse.

A/N: Nah, 'cuz they know that reviewing will make me update faster. *wink, wink*

Vincent: *sighs*


	4. Hojo

Whoo! Hey guys, I've gotten 22 hits from the USA, 2 from Netherlands, and one each from the UK, France, Ireland, Hong Kong, Russia, Spain, Italy, Norway, Canada, and Germany. That makes me feel special! XD Ah, I guess I shouldn't be hounding everybody about reviewing since I always skip it for many chapters anyway.

Oh, and as of now, the story is rated M. Don't read if blood and scariness bug you. Now what else am i forgetting...?

Vincent: Shannon wanted me to remind you she has brown hair, not black.

Rutilus: O.o;; Oops.

Vincent: You are pathetic. And when am **_I _**gonna show up in this...story?

Rutilus: Good question. Theoretically, you should in one or two chapters, and some Remnants like two chapters from now as well. However, let's just see how long this chapter takes me first, because it may end up being super long again, and then I will need to split it up into different parts.

Cloud: I would seriously consider not listening to anything Rutilus says anymore about when we will show up.

Hojo: BWHAHAHAHA!!! PUT ME IN NOW!

Rutilus:....But nobody likes you.

Vincent, Seph, Cloud, and Zack: She's actually got a point there.

*POOF*

Seph: WHEEE!!! Yo, Cloud, my homie, what are you doing here?

Cloud: Dunno, hey Zack, I thought you were dead? Give me five, bro!

Zack: WAAAAHHH!!!! *cuddles a blanket in corner, sucks thumb*

Rutilus: *blinks* guess Hojo has to go in so these guys act normal again.

Hojo: *snickers, holding some weird potion that was thrown on them, except Vincent*

Vincent: *glaring at Hojo, pulls out Cerberus*

Disclaimer guy: You know the routine - Vincent, please don't get Hojo blood on me.

* * *

May 23, 2010

Day 2...**Hojo**

* * *

Amelia awoke with a groan; the cold, hard metal surface of the bed, with only a thin sheet of mattress on top of it, was very - uncomfortable - to say the least.

"...Abdominal cavity intact, organs largely unharmed, stitching to perfection, if I do say so myself, and consciousness functioning properly...at the moment, at least..."

Amelia stiffened at the nasal, high-pitched male voice, her wrists and ankles straining patheticly against the steel cuffs!?! that held her in place.

"Ah, it appears the subject is finally alert and observant to the environment..."

Amelia blanched, gawking at the middle-aged man in front of her, who had long black hair in a ponytail, spectacles, and wore a long, white labcoat. She recognized him immediately, pixelated or not.

"H-Hojo!?" She squeaked at first, scanning around the surgical chamber for an exit, but only saw strange, humming medical machines with lights on them if they were functioning, and frightening sharp tools she could only guess were meant for Hojo's gruesome projects.

"...And _brain_ appears to not have been damaged during the recuperation process. Pity. That would have been fun." Finished the deranged scientist with an evil cheshire-cat smirk and a swish of his pen on his clipboard.

Amelia quickly regained her sure-fire temper and demanded bravely, "What do you want with me?"

Hojo gave a mock sigh of resignation, "It would be so much more rewarding to leave the results a _surprise_, but then I suppose it would be more _interesting_ to analyze the subject's increasing compliance with the scheme of this operation, eh, _**Specimen Number 46**_?"

He grinned madly, mostly talking to himself, but Amelia heard every word quite clearly, a sinking cold feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

_Oh. My. God. I've been numbered._

Hojo turned to face Amelia, the light of the overhead mercury bulbs reflecting in his glasses giving him an added glint to his eyes, merely reflecting the insanity of his immoral soul.

"Ah, my dear", his voiced was laced with mocking kindness and praise, sounding similar to the actor who played Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies, "you are about to play a very important role in my grandest experiment, the Jenova Project. Ah, and you are a fan of my super-creation, Sephiroth, are you not? Jenova cells do wonders, but I have yet to study if they react in a malign pattern when applied to females." He added with glee when Amelia's eyes betrayed recognition to the term, "Jenova Project".

"My theory," he continued, sounding now as if reciting his notes,"and I am rarely false in my theories, might I add, is that the initial introduction of Mako into the bloodstream will become even more toxic than normal for a relatively short time period after it has been infused with the Jenova cells, since the genetic makeup usually is a better match for males. This will only affect some unneccessary storage of long term memory in your hippocampus, and then the rest of the injections following will react the same as with my former, er, subjects."

_Oh fuck, I'm screwed._

Hojo decided that this much information would suffice; enough to cause fear of what would occur, as well as multiply the fear of the unknown. If put into a mathematical formula, his method would appear: Fear (F) + X ^F = Success. Hojo had carefully crafted this equation to perfection.

"...You sick bastard!" Amelia furiously began swearing her heart out at the top of her lungs at the insane man in front of her, only to be tut-tut-ted and then heard him picking up some metal tools that clinked together.

"Ah, yes, this is what I was looking for..." Amelia gulped, but before she could discover what horrifying device Hojo had grasped, she was saved by a familiar sound.

_BA-BA-DA-BAAA BA BA BAA-BA-DAAAA!!!_

Hojo jumped a whole foot in the air with a start.

Had Amelia not been in the current situation, bolted down to a metal surface and awaiting a gruesome experiment, she might have laughed at the incredulous expression on his face.

Hojo began muttering something in annoyance about being unable to find his phone, but Amelia knew that it was hers, still hidden inside her boot where she put it when the mobs came through Midgar earlier.

Hojo left the room to search for his phone, leaving Amelia to sigh with relief, only to stiffen again when another person came back in through the door. A young blonde-haired man, possibly a grad student working as an assistant to Hojo, approached her side, holding an injection needle, and looking thoroughly sick to his stomach.

Amelia snarled, "Don't you **_dare_** touch me!" attempting to look as vicious and threatening as possible from her laying down position.

The man sighed, "I'm actually here to help."

Amelia stared, raising an eyebrow at his white labcoat and looking pointedly at the large needle in his left hand.

The assistant pulled up a rusty stool from a nearby humming machine and sat beside her. "Look, I don't like this job, and you don't like your...situation either, I'm sure. If I don't keep this job, or do it right, they kill me and my little brother, too. So I have to stay here -"

"And basically my fate does not concern you," finished Amelia icily.

"Y-No, No! I'm sneaking you, um," he looked around suspiciously, as if expecting Hojo back any minute, and whispered, "I'm supposed to inject you with the Mako-Jenova infusion, otherwise he will do it and that won't be pleasant, let me assure you, but I also got you some morphine."

"...Morphine." Amelia repeated numbly, feeling a shiver as she tried very hard not to imagine how much pain that must mean her body would be enduring.

"Well, basically. It'll put you to sleep, too. I've been making this morphine stuff for all of the experim- I mean _patients_, that have been, er, treated, by Hojo." He smiled sadly, tapping a second, smaller needle that he had pulled out of his pocket.

Amelia stared at the big needle, then looked back at the man gratefully.

"Oh," he snapped his fingers, "your friend, that girl with the black hair, she signed up to be his lab assistant as an intern," (Amelia's eyes widened with horror) "But she doesn't know what this job is like yet. I'll try to get her to leave, but she probably fell for the free room and board and good pay like I did."

Amelia's eyes narrowed. She knew Jenni was very gullible, and probably signed up out of the goodness of her heart.

"Watch out for her for me," she murmured quietly, staring at the white paneled ceiling.

The assistant nodded, "I'll do my best."

He stood up, and gently laid a hand on Amelia's arm, "I have to give you the morphine injection now, so that I don't get caught, and then give you the other one right after that. The only bad side effects besides getting hooked are mostly stomach related, and your eyes get blurry."

Amelia squinted her eyes closed, "...Just get it over with...and thanks."

He nodded slowly, paling, then swallowed, and gave her the two injections.

Amelia thought to herself as the room began growing dark and fuzzy, _I guess the only thing good about this is Sephy could end up being my boyfriend. Ha. We could go around killing people together. I miss Mom. I wonder if she's alright. I hope she doesn't worry too much about me, but I know she will. I swear I'll find a way back to you, Mom. And if there is a God, he better fucking help me get revenge on Hojo. I hope Jenni's alright. I wonder how the rest of the group back at the con is? Will I ever see them again?..._

* * *

_BA-BA-DA-BAAA BA BA BAA-BA-DAAAA!!!_

I groaned, half-awake, as Shannon called me again on the cell phone. Sitting up with bed-hair from resting on the makeshift pillow all night, I answered, "Yah, hello?"

"_Where are you guys?!?!"_ Shannon's voice shrieked from the black piece of metal and plastic. "_We're really worried about you, it's 10:30 and no one has seen you guys for half a day!_"

"Ugh," I smiled, rubbing my ear from the painful volume I had cranked the volume up to by accident, "Me and Amelia are at a hospital."

"_Gasp! What happened? Are you guys okay?"_

"Well," I paused, wondering how she would take the news, "Amy kind of saved from some monster thing with claws, some kind of mini-Bahamut thing, and she got her stomach injured in the process. It looked pretty bloody, but she'll be okay, I think."

_"...."_

"Shannon, are you there?"

Shannon spoke quietly, sounding kind of hurt.

"_You can tell me the truth, you know. If it's a secret or something, I promise not to tell anybody, I'll cover for you guys, I swear! What's really going on?"_

"Shannon, I - you don't believe me?"

Just then, I could hear some kind of siren from her side of the phone, and she gave a gasp.

After a long pause, and someone talking over a megaphone or speaker in the background, she whispered, "_By the Holy Virgin Mother_."

"What!?!"

She spoke nervously into the phone, as if afraid for security hearing,"_The floor you said guys were on that had materia on it - it's like, being searched by guys with guns and police-looking uniforms - and they just told us that all events for the con have been cancelled now, and that they're..they're searching for you guys."_

"Oh good, you believe us now?" I laughed.

"_No, Jenni, you don't get it. I mean, yes I believe you now, and I'm sorry I didn't listen before, but..."She paused. "It's not a search and rescue group. You guys are on the wanted list."_

At this point, I couldn't help but burst out laughing, then stopped mid-laugh in horror when she remained silent.

"Wait...you're not serious, are you?"

"_Yeah...oh my god, I hope you guys do okay!"_ She gave a small gasp, and I heard her talking away from the phone to someone else.

"_I've gotta go, everyone in the group is trying to get a ride home before - in case they might interrogate us or something_," Shannon said quickly.

I had a feeling the security people might scare them and I silently prayed everyone wouldn't panic too much or get into trouble.

"_Alright, well, I miss you guys_."

"We miss you, too." Shannon whispered sadly, and I missed her characteristic cheerful perkyness already.

"Oh, by the way, you're the only person I can call. I don't know why, but, if something did happen to me could you - oh wait, I guess you can't tell my parents. They'd think you were nuts."

"_Yeah_," she chuckled, but half-heartedly.

"Alright, I guess I better let you go then, I'll try to talk to you again soon. Oh, and, ah, _Zack_?"

"Hmm?"

"Stay happy-go-lucky Zack for me!" We laughed, and she teased me not to go emo-Vincent on her. Then we both said our goodbyes, and Shannon hurried off.

I sighed, staring at the TV screen on the other side of the room. It was showing the Midgar news, and of course the top story was Avalanche and the Remnants and Sephiroth and the Bahamut thing.

Which reminded me, if Amelia was awake, I should go check on her. I gathered my things and headed to the bathroom to check my makeup in case I bumped into the scientist guy I'd be working as an intern for, or maybe a random cute guy that just materialized in front of me. Or at least I could brush my hair.

I checked the mirror, pausing to stare at my eyes, and smiled down at my Vincent clothing bag on the floor. I kind of wished my eyes were red, like Vincent's. That would be cool. Unless I scared everybody. Hahaha.

My eyes are some weird color of brown, like cherry wood finish. I can't place what exact hue it is because there is some amber, some hazel, some reddish brown, and some plain chocolate brown. And if I wear green, the hazel stands out more. Or if I'm crying, that works, too.

I stop being dumb and staring at the mirror when someone else walks in to use the bathroom, and I gather my junk to go search down the halls for Amelia.

* * *

45 minutes later...

I can't believe I got lost inside a hospital.

Whoever designed the floor plans for this building needs a lesson in creativity. Every single floor has white walls, ceiling, and ground, and a service desk in the middle of the floor. There is a set of steel staircases, completely identical, at the end of each hallway. On every floor. And I have lost track of what floor I'm on. And the directories are very unhelpful. All they say is where the bathroom and the service desk are. It's like whoever built it intentionally wanted you to get lost. I entertain this thought for a moment, then go bother the lady at the service desk.

Oh my gosh, she's, like, talking like, and, like, looks, like, exactly **IDENTICAL** to the woman on the first floor. UGH!

She has no idea where the patients stay. _What does she do here exactly for a job? Just sit there and talk on the phone and paint her toenails for hours? _I spot a bottle of red nail polish on the counter.

I rest my case.

I finally wander into a section of the building that is kind of unique in comparison to the rest of the building - the floor is grey instead of white. _Wow. That's just dandy._

I see a sign pointing for the direction of a cafe to eat, and my growling stomach alerts me to the fact that I have not eaten since lunch yesterday. I abandon my plan of finding Amelia's room to buy some brunch at the _Shinra Memorial Hospital Cafeteria_. (Another great sign of creative masterminds at work.) It appears to be a part cafe, part coffee shop. I order a sub sandwhich and some coffee with extra milk and extra sugar, then pull out a piece of paper from my "borrowed" black bag that contains all of my stuff. I find a pencil and start sketching Vincent Valentine in-between bites for the next hour, and slowly other people fill up the cafeteria seats.

At this point, I notice there's a woman with short blonde hair, a darker-skinned man with sunglasses, and some redhead, all drinking coffee two tables from me and wearing suits.

That didn't ring a bell in my tired and, until recently, starved brain, until I overheard the woman say to the redhead,"Reno, you are so stupid, that is not a way to win a girl. Especially someone as wild as that Yuffie chick."

_Reno!? As in, the Reno?!?!_ My head pops up to attention.

"You know him?" Elena looks at me in confusion.

All three are staring at me now.

Oops. Did I say that out loud?

"Er, not personally, but I-" I realize that I could utilize Reno's charm to help me find Amelia's room,"I've...heard that he was a great hero!" Wow, that was the dumbest thing I could have ever pulled up, but Reno's looking smug now and Elena's cracking up. Rude's just staring at Reno with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty bombs are kind of cool?" I said randomly, remembering his bomb in the Advent Children movie.

Suddenly Reno beamed, "Hey, you're a girl! Maybe you could help me!"

Elena scoffed, "What, I don't count now?"

Reno ignored her, and tried to get me to help him figure out how to ask Yuffie Kisaragi on a date. I begged him to help me find Amelia's room on the way, and he agreed, leaving the other two to shake their heads.

Reno's latest attempts at flirting...were sad, if not off by a mile, to say the least. I pitied Yuffie for having to endure being attacked by crazy chocobos that had been covered with "materia necklaces". Though she probably didn't mind the materia part. Although I didn't get to chat long with Reno, only about a half hour's worth of wandering through the hospital, it was definitely very entertaining, and I think we formed some kind of brother-sisterly bond.

"I would suggest candy. Lots of candy. And then invite her to the movies with you. Just make sure you dont maul her with chickens next time."

Reno noticed the picture I had drawn of Vincent earlier sticking out of my bag, and gleefully snatched it.

"Hey careful with that! That's not done yet!"

He beamed at the picture appraisingly, "You know, you're actually not that bad at drawing."

"Thanks," I grinned, accepting it back, "It's nowhere near finished yet, though. I still have to fix his eyes and shade him more."

"Eesh. I just draw stick figures."

I laughed out loud, having a feeling his stick figures threw bombs at each other or something funny like that. Yup, Yuffie and Reno definitely were a match, the more I thought about it, but part of me still thought Yuffie and Vincent should also be a match, no matter how completely different they were.

I guess we were almost there, when some blondie guy stopped us in the middle of the hall. He was wearing a lab coat, and looked very grim.

"She's to come with me, Turk."

Reno glared at this lab guy, his bubbly persona replaced with a cold one, and I knew that meant he'd gone Turk Business mode. Geez, no wonder Vincent was a silent cold guy even before Chaos. I vaguely wondered if Vincent had ever had a bubbly side like Reno as I watched the two argue.

"Reno, that's Jennifer. The new _lab assistant_." The blonde gritted his teeth, nodding towards me.

Reno's face suddenly appeared as though he'd been dunked in cold water. He stared at me in shock and horror.

"_This_ kid? But-"

"Not a word, Turk."

I suddenly wondered if it might be safer for me to stay with Reno, from the expression on Reno's face, but Reno swalllowed and nodded his head at me, so I decided maybe he just was afraid of scientist work, and that the blondie guy was desperate to keep recruits. Perhaps there weren't too many people who wanted to be interns for Shinra these days. Ah well, I'd get the benefits! Yay!

But I still had a strange feeling in the back of my mind as I followed the silent blond guy who was showing me to my job, and when I glanced back Reno slowly turned away down the hall.

* * *

A/N: Well, it's still a cliffhanger, I guess, but the next chapter is up, so don't panic. - And that's really gonna be the M rated one. Yeah, please review at least one of these two chapters, cuz it took a very long time to wrote! _


	5. The Tainting of Innocence

A/N: Okay, here's the action chapter you've all been waiting for! Yay! ... Well, I'll probably be in an angsty mood by the end of the chapter if I write it right... but who cares? lol

WARNING: this chapter is long!

Disclaimer guy: Do you have any idea how much money I could make for just showing up every chapter of every author's story if I got paid a dollar per chapter? You know the routine.

* * *

**The Tainting of Innocence**

Will this blond guy ever talk? Geez, maybe he doesn't like me much or something. Maybe he's just forgotten his way through these identical hallways and doesn't want to admit it?

"Hey, uh," I stammer nervously, "I never got your name?"

He stops mid-stride, and looks back at me slowly with a strange stare, like he's looking right through me into my soul. It's very disturbing.

Finally, after a very uncomfortable few seconds, he nods, as if deciding I'm a moral being or something. (_Man, I must be getting paranoid or something_.) "My name isn't important. I'm a nobody," he muttered the latter to himself, "But I am to guide you to the room you will be staying in, and in the section a hallway and floor down from your room will be another area designated for introducing you to... the internship process."

This last part he said delicately before continuing down the hall, as if it were something distasteful. I rush to catch up with his quickened stride in confusion. Curious as I am, no matter how much trouble I've gotten into with this trait already as it is, I was dying to ask him several questions.

"So, um, first of all, what exactly am I doing? I figure just work this scientist guy thinks is boring and easy that he doesn't want to deal with - and what's his name, anyways, the flier never mentioned."

I have to stop short to not crash into him. He looks back and forth down the deserted hallway, which has been deserted for the past half hour, and this whole giant building appears very much empty anyways, so I don't understand what his problem is - then he suddenly yanks me into a nearby door and bolts it shut behind us.

At first, I assume he's a pervert, and open my mouth to scream for help uselessly, but he covers my mouth, hissing, "What the _hell_ are you _doing_?"

I rip his hand off my mouth and gasp for air, "I might ask the same of you!"

Before I can say anything else, he whispers, "Your friend is in grave danger. I'm not supposed to tell you anything, because I have the same job as you, and that is working for Doctor Hojo."

My jaw drops. I'm not sure whether to cry, scream, guffaw, or just stare at him in horror. I settle for the latter.

Blondie sighs, adding, "And I don't think you want him seeing that -" he nods to the Vincent drawing, "Or he might start getting ideas." He looks me straight in the eyes, to make sure I understand exactly what he means.

I don't.

Why would Hojo care that I have a picture of Vincent? Maybe that would make him hate me?

Blondie doesn't seem to want to directly spill the beans, and he scratches his head, looking at the wall. "You may be in danger, too, the way he's been talking lately, but for now I guess I should just show you where you'll be working."

I shake my head vigorously, feeling quite sick to my stomach suddenly, and wonder if I'm about to get reacquainted with that delicious sub I ate earlier.

Blondie murmurs, "If you run off, they'll come kill you, and if you make trouble here, they might do worse. But there is a small chance you and your friend - Amelia, is it? Can still make it out without trouble. All you're doing for now anyways is dissecting dead animals."

I breathe a sigh of relief. Dead animals I can handle.

"I'll show you his office later. There's something you need to - uh -" He shuffles through his lab pockets, and throws me some keys, which I barely manage to catch in my surprise.

"I never gave you those," he looks at me for confirmation, and I nod slowly.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_**_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

An hour or so later, I was staring at a large, dead, and carefully preserved rat on a black table in front of me, and holding a small dissection knife. Alone.

Last time I'd done this, I was on a college campus with a whole room of other people doing the same thing, and had no problem. But now I was by myself, in a mostly empty and very large building, wondering where my best bud was and what the hell was happening to her, and my imagination was getting the best of me. I kept looking up at the clock instead of the instruction manual on the table, and trying not to think of what Blondie meant when he said I could be in danger, too.

Why did I ever leave Amelia by herself? I should have known better than to trust a hospital named after Shinra.

Angrily, biting back tears, I start cutting into the rat's stomach according to how the directions specify, but with a little bit too much force, causing some organ inside to squirt juice everywhere. _Yuck_.

Why was I even still here? Because I knew I would get lost without Blondie helping me, and I had to wait for him to come back. If I roamed alone, I might run into Hojo alone, and if he was already thinking about experimenting on me, I didn't want to run into him. Maybe, if I did my job good enough, dissecting dead animals that is, then he would leave me alone and decide I'm more useful as an assistant.

I begin to sob bitterly, collapsing my head on the table. Why couldn't I ever do anything right? It was my fault me and Amelia got stuck in this world, my fault she got hurt since I was too stupid to run from a monster, and my fault that who knows what Hojo was doing to her.

Furiously, I grab the small knife and start randomly stabbing the rat until everything is mutilated except the head. By this point, I seriously want to puke everywhere, and my arms are shaking. I imagine that the head belongs to Hojo, and I lift my arm to stab it fiercely in the eyeball...

* * *

Amelia screamed as the knife ripped her back.

Although she felt no pain, thanks to the huge and probably toxic amount of morphine she had been given, the idea of the knife being inside her skin was frightening enough. Plus, Hojo would get suspicious if she made no reaction, and probably find out what the assistant guy was doing...then the blond guy would probably never be allowed back in again, and Amelia would soon after **_really_** feel pain.

Amelia gritted her teeth. Although she could feel no _pain_, she could still tell that there were lots of open cuts in her skin over major arteries and veins, which Hojo made periodically to calculate the speed at which her body was accepting the Jenova cells, and letting them repair wounds.

Amelia had a feeling the carving in her back was for a wing like Sephiroth. Normally, she would have been giddy at the thought of having a wing like her One-Winged Angel, but having to get it this way was not part of the plan.

She wondered how her mom was doing. Amelia tried to remember a happy moment in her youth with her mother, in order to distract herself from the current predicament.

Then, Amelia realized that she was having trouble remembering some events of her childhood now. In fact, the image of her mom's face was slowly fading. Her father's disappeared long ago.

She screamed again with a gasp, this time really feeling pain...in her head?

And then it was all peaceful. It was like there was a comforting aura in her mind to sooth her in her moment of fear.

_Fear not my daughter, this shall soon pass._

"...Mom?" Amelia whispered in uncertainty.

* * *

Oh my god, did the rat just scream?

The knife clatters to the floor.

I stare in disgust and horror, dumbfounded, assuring myself and my rapidly thumping heart that I'm hearing things.

But then I swear I hear screaming from nearby again, possibly a room next door. I rip off my experiment gloves and run out the door in my white lab coat, rubbing my tear-stricken face vigorously so no one notices, and spot Blondie exited out a door three down to the left. When the door is open for that split moment, the scream is louder, but as soon as he closes it, the shriek becomes muffled and then silenced.

I think it was a human scream.

I ask the unspeakable question of Blondie with my eyes, since my vocal chords stopped working.

He looks at me with surprise and guilt, then gestures for me to follow him down some stairs.

I follow after him uncertainly, walking slower by the door, then fear gets the best of me and I hurry into a run as fast as I can after him down the stairs.

When we get to the bottom, he leads me to a dead end, and does some weird pattern with his feet on three different floor tiles.

A robotic arm emerges from the wall and scans his retina. "Confirmed." It states in a female robotic tone.

It turns to me, and declares, "Unidentified. Password?"

Blondie waves his arm in annoyance, "She's a guest."

"Incorrect password."

"UGH! Fine, the Jenova Project is in Phase three."

"Correct password. You may enter."

The wall opens like a jigsaw puzzle or a zipper to reveal a small, messy closet of an office.

With lots of books.

I turn to Blondie, "What the heck was that about?"

He shrugs, "I dunno, the bot never usually makes a big to-do about a guest if you tell it there's one. At least, it didn't mind when Rufus Shin-"

He caught himself here, as though he had said too much.

I ignored his slip, "No, I mean what's Phase three?"

Oops. Looks like I wasn't supposed to hear that, either. His eyes widen and he massages his temple, muttering something to himself.

"Er, never mind,"I say hastily,"So why did you bring me to his office in the first place?"

Blondie goes over to a desk in the corner and points to a box beneath it.

"There's stuff in there you need to see. You still got your keys?"

I fumble through my lab coat pockets and find the rusty keys- I had forgotten I was even wearing the lab coat.

Blondie straightens up and walks past me, but won't look me in the eyes when he speaks. "I'll stand watch," he says softly.

I realize he's probably risking his life in order to show me whatever this is, and hurry to open the small, brown, octagon-shaped box. Inside is only one book, which looks like a lab notebook, probably for recording results of Hojo's experiments. It has tabs on the side for listings in alphabetical order.

I look up Amelia Hall first. For some reason, part of me finds it odd Hojo would put these in alphabetical order, when he calls his subjects by their number. Why wouldn't he put them in numerical order instead?

Maybe because he knew if someone snuck in his office, they wouldn't know or want to know the number, because it was so inhumane. Which could mean this was a trap. I'm almost to Amelia's page, but I quickly look around.

_Shit_. I see a camera under the desk.

I glance back at Blondie, wondering if he knows. He's too busy keeping watch, though. And if Hojo checks his cameras, and doesn't just put them up for intimidation, then Blondie's already a goner. It's best for me to just hurry and get the information I need before we run out of time.

Ah. Amelia Halls. I frown at the number by her name, "46". If any number could ever be placed on her, I felt it could only be her ranking in highschool or college. Like, graduated in top 11 of her class.

I read on, skipping over chemical jargon and fancy words I can't understand, "First female to be injected with Mako binded to Jenova cells...long-term memory appears to have suffered some, as predicted beforehand. [See pp.565-567 for Hypothesis terms in detail], and specimen's ability to recover from injury is increasing as the dosages remain constant..."

_The sicko!_ I read with horror for a little here on his methods, then tremble with disgust and skip ahead a couple pages.

"...It is assumed, unlike specimen number (here the number was too smudged for me to be sure what it was,) which was a failure, (_Ah, that must have been Cloud._) it is expected that 46 will desire to participate in the Reunion..."

I kind of worried about that part. I mean, Cloud got through it, but Amelia had always been rather fond of villains. When I was her room mate, she had a huge Sephiroth poster and some Darth Vader stuff. She was more interested in being a Sith Lord, the hot, evil silver-haired guys from Final Fantasy VII, and even Scar from the Lion King, than any of the heros. It was just fun and silly before, but now, if her long-term memory had been brainwashed, and she had this Jenova thing in her head, I began to fear she might completely lose it.

I suddenly decided I'd read enough of Hojo's condescending literature, and since I didn't see any notes on a cure in the titles of each section in the "Amelia Halls" experiment pages, I started to close the book. Then, out of curiosity, looked up "Jennifer Allens".

I dropped the book. All I had to see was, "female...Chaos...Vincent Valentine." _Oh my god_. I glance back at Blondie. _Shit, that guy wasn't even kidding_.

I skim the hypothesis, trying not to allow my eyes to drift down to the "Methods and Means" section.

"...Only one form of Chaos can exist at one time...either one will destroy the other, or they will form a union."

At this point, I have two modes of thought running through my brain at once. One is panicking, "This can't be happening to me, this can't be happening to me, I've got to get out of this godforsaken hell of a hospital NOW!" and the other is trying to be professional and scientifically analyze the situation, "What the hell does he mean by union? Me and Vincent get along?"

Well, apparently Hojo had other plans in mind besides "get along".

WHAT THE HELL!?!?! He wants me to have babies with Vincent so he can expeirment on them?!?!

Well, that certainly would be preferred over Vincent-as-Chaos ripping me to shreds.

But that definitely isn't what the Vincent fangirl in me had planned on.

I try to look through my section more carefully now to see if there is a way to turn the "Chaos gene" back off after Hojo turns it on, but don't find so much as one clue. Figures.

I hear a click behind me, and jump with a squeak as cold metal is pressed up against my neck.

A gruff male voice, presumably the owner of the gun, grunts, "Alright, missy. Come quietly so I don't have to shoot."

Shit. I'm gonna die. What the hell was Blondie doing?

Ah, he's tied up. That figures.

Another figure slowly shuffles into the room, wearing a long black ponytail and spectacles. I have to assume that's Hojo - _shit, he's holding the picture of Vincent Valentine I was drawing earlier_. I must have left all of my stuff in the dissection lab when I heard that person screaming - and that person must have been Amelia.

Hojo drawls in a snivelly tone, "Well, well, well, if it isn't 46's companion. And I see you've had assistance snooping into my office now. Tell me, was it an interesting read?" He nods to the book I'm still holding, and my hands clench it more tightly in anger.

Dumb person I am, I ramble the one million dollar question, "Why the hell are you doing these things to people? They never did anything to you! I've never even met you before and you want to turn me into a-"

I can't bring myself to say monster. That would imply Vincent was one. And even though I've never personally met Vincent Valentine, the fangirl I am, I know he has a heart of gold inside, despite his limit breaks that turn him into various demons.

I wouldn't have been able to get much farther anyway; he's chuckling with some twisted amusement, then pulls out a strange dart gun that looks like it has a syringe in it.

I scream in panic, but the guard is joined by some buddies who restrain me as I flail about.

The dart hits me in the arm, and all goes black.

* * *

Several Months Later...

Amelia had wondered where the blond haired guy went for a while, then finally realized he wasn't going to come back. Neither did the morphine. However, she'd received enough Jenova-Mako Junk to be able to deal with back wounds ripping open as though she was only scraping her knee on concrete from falling off a bicycle.

Or something like that.

There were many times she had thought of escaping, when she had just enough strength to sit up, but it was only today that she had actually managed to successfully walk across the room without being exhausted. Usually, someone under Hojo's orders would come in just at the moment she wanted to leave and give her some other annoying and pointless check up on her reflexes.

Amelia would have hit them and run, since she technically had the strength to do more than she was aware of, but knew they might be working for Hojo for only the same reasons as the blond guy.

Amelia didn't have to have wounds opened as often any more, so her strength was coming back more quickly. And so did her determination to get revenge on Hojo, who never showed up in the room any more. Amelia bided her time, waiting impatiently for the clock to reach 3 am, knowing that this was the time of the least patrol activity.

Amelia tested her feet firmly on the ground for several steps, rubbing her back tenderly, and wondering why it felt funny there, and if she was supposed to get a wing.

Mom had been talking to her every couple of nights, encouraging her to bear it just a little longer. Amelia found this very strange at first, but if she had been able to talk on the phone with Shannon when no other number worked, this wasn't much different, right?

Amelia glanced around the room, rubbing her eyes to clear her vision better, and tried to find anything that could be used as a weapon as she plotted her escape.

Ah, this pipe could do the trick, she thought, and attempted to wrench a large L-shaped metal pipe off of a machine near by. Amelia was surprised at how easily she yanked it off - and it wasn't even lose either, since the bolts that held it in place flew out of their holes and ricocheted off of the walls. The machine sparked, gave a low wine, and then the lights shut off.

To say Amelia was surprised at her strength would be an understatement, but then her mouth slowly formed a smirk.

Payback time.

As if to confirm her decision, she heard Mother whisper, "Today, my child, will be the beginning of our reuinion."

Amelia nodded, held up the five foot long pipe over her head, and charged at the door, breaking it down easily with a heavy crash.

Immediately, sirens began to go off all over the building, and red lights flashed in the corner of every hallway.

Amelia swore under her breath, looked both ways, and ran down some staircase nearby, her green Mako eyes flashing dangerously.

One room she passed by was reflecting colors on the wall across from it. That triggered a memory -

A girl with a Vincent costume handing her a purple orb. A humming, whizzing, and angry, brilliant white, blinding Amelia temporarily and filling a room containing lots of materia with suffocating white light. "OH MY GOD!" "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" "WE'RE SO FUCKING SCREWED!" Trembling on a non-existent floor, with empty space all around, all white and painful, and the feeling of flying at tremedous speeds without appearing to physically move.

"Jennifer,"Amelia breathed.

She looked down at her clothing, realizing she was wearing the same clothes as that day. She'd been allowed showers at this hospital every couple of days, and had always changed into a new hospital gown, but before she had left the room to escape, she had found these old clothes and changed into them, since it would be something different.

Cautiously, hesitantly, Amelia opened the door -

Nope, just a supply closet. But it did have a couple of materia stashed in it. Amelia picked out a few that looked normal, not wanting to deal with unknown stuff at the moment. A Fire, Ice, and Thunder materia. That would work nicely.

Amelia heard someone coming, and adopted an aggressive fighting stance.

A tall guard, his face covered by a helmet he was wearing, turned around the corner of the hallway, only to be smashed in the head with a sickening crack as the pipe collided with his skull.

And fell to the ground with a thud.

Amelia panted, the adrenaline pumping in her veins, and feeling confused. She should be upset she just killed someone, but she actually was...excited?

_Hurry_, urged her Mother's voice. _There isn't much time_.

Amelia nodded, shrugging off her momentary sickness. Now was not the time for weakness or mercy. These guards wanted to kill her if they saw her, so she would kill them first and spare none.

Amelia's boots echoed through the halls; worn so many months ago for a anime con she barely remembered as a costume, they were confidently striding towards battle.

Apparently she was heading into a secret area of Hojo's as the halls were becoming more heavily guarded.

Amelia met three at once, who were each unprepared.

Amelia waited for them to notice her presence this time, to have a little fun.

The shortest one spotted her first, and gave a short yelp before she knocked him unconscious with a blow of the pipe, kicking off the wall to land her boots hard on the second one's chest, knocking him unconcious and probably cracking a couple ribs. Then jumped off him, gracefully dodging all of the bullets fired by the third guard with the expertise of a dancer. Amelia punted the still-living guard in the stomach with her right boot, and kicked the gun out of his right hand with her left boot when he landed flat on his back against the floor.

Amelia grinned evilly, pinning the metal pipe's sharp edge against his throat,"Alright, buddy, better tell me where the exit is and my friend's location if you enjoy life."

* * *

Meanwhile...

I had been in the dark for a long time. I was unaware how much time exactly had passed, where I was, or even who I was for just a moment.

Ah yes, now I remember. Hojo's hell.

It feels like I'm stuck in a box. Weird. But I know there are guards outside the room, and Hojo.

I shudder. I don't want to ever see his scary face or hear his high-pitched laugh again.

This box is nice enough. I could just stay here. But I wonder what woke me up...and how I got in this box in the first place. I wonder what experiments he did to me when I was asleep.

Yup. I'll just stay in the box.

I hear the guards enter the room, and as they do, a muffled siren noise that was in the background is much louder for a few seconds, then muffled once more, so I assume the two guards have closed the door behind them. Even though they are talking very quietly, I can hear them quite easily. I wonder if my hearing's been enhanced?

"...that fucking psycho bitch is still killing everybody out there," panted a deep voice.

"How the hell are we gonna get out of here so she doesn't bash our brains out, too?" squeaked a second.

Deep-voice-guy whispered, "I say we beat up vampire girl and threaten to kill her if she won't leave us alone."

Who's vampire girl?

Oh, that must be me. I'm in...a coffin thing, after all.

Shit, they're walking over here.

I throw open the top of the box quickly, sitting up, and this momentarily startles them, one staring at me in horror like I was a ghost or monster or something. The other lifts his gun quickly and shoots me in the left arm once.

I open my mouth to scream, but my vocal chords, having been unused for a very long period of time, take a minute to get back in gear. I collapse halfway out of the box onto the floor, and the guy who is afraid of me covers my mouth with a gag cloth. The guy with the gun chuckles with relief and speaks with new courage, "Ah, she should be a piece of cake to deal with, look at her, crying over a paper cut."

My eyes are freely pouring buckets as I curl up in a ball, clutching my wound. I have never felt so much pain in my life, and even though I know I should be trying to resist the guards and getting the hell out of here, all I can think of is this _**fire**_ that is coursing through my left arm. I can barely get enough oxygen to breathe, and start to feel faint from the loss of blood. I've always felt fainty easily, usually due to intense heat, but have only fainted twice in my life that I can recall. Once at a Fourth of July Picnic during a long, boring speech, and the other when Amelia and I flew through white nothingness. I wonder if Amelia is the "psycho bitch" they're talking about, and if she is coming to save me.

"Pitiful piece of shit," mocks the gun guy as I moan and try to scream uselessly through the gag, then kicks me- Hard - OW - in the side.

My ears are ringing, and my breath is coming in gasps. When I open my eyes, everything I see spots everywhere, and my vision is turning into black. I'm definitely about to faint.

_Enough of this,_ I hear an unfamiliar voice growl.

For just a moment, what little I can still see turns to red.

* * *

Amelia triumphantly pocketed two very nice looking guns and some Cure materia before leaving four more unconcious guards on the floor. Or, they might have been dead, she couldn't really tell, and didn't care. Amelia finally found the hall she was looking for. She heard three more guards coming, and shot them all before they even had a chance to properly aim.

Although one remained standing, and they were relatively close and easy targets, Amelia was proud of herself for having successfully hit each one. It was so amusing to see their feeble attempts to even graze her.

With one more shot at the remaining guard, Amelia finished them off.

Then she stared in surprise at the blood all the way down the length of the hall, starting from a door about 20 feet from her. Whoever had been here was definitely a match worth fighting - they had not spared one guard.

Amelia treaded carefully, avoiding puddles of blood with disgust, and picking up any useful items she found in their pockets. Amelia peeked in the room the guard she interrogated earlier had told her to look for Jennifer in, getting a little worried when she saw blood in the doorway.

After not finding a trace of her friend, Amelia turned out of the room quickly to check down the hall, hearing a low snarl.

One panicked guard ran by her, and Amelia carelessly whacked him upside the head with the pipe she still carried, enjoying it alot more than the gun because it was the closest thing she had to a katana for the moment. The pathetic guard gave a small grunt and slipped to the floor with an unceremonious thump.

Amelia swung the pipe in her left hand and held onto the large pistol in her right as she slunk closer to the origin of the vicious snarls. Amelia began to fear that the creature ahead might have gotten to Jennifer, and hurried her pace.

She was not prepared to meet Chaos, who was covered in blood and had just lashed out at one final guard with its claws, sending the man spiraling to the floor, lifeless. Then turned to stare silently at Amelia with a sneer, fangs showing and eyes glowing yellow.

Amelia almost dropped her weapon in shock.

Almost.

_Wait a minute. That Chaos looks...female?! And it's face doesn't look like Vincent's...it looks like..._

"J-Jenni?" Amelia whispered with dread, fearing the worst.

The demon's eyes blinked, then a voice that sounded similar to Jennifer's growled in a deeper tone with uncertainty, "Amelia?"

The demon suddenly collapsed to the floor, and reverted back to a human form.

"Oh God, Jenni," whispered Amelia, suppressing the urge to vomit,"oh my God."

Jennifer had passed out, and there was a wound on her left arm, as well as several rips in her clthing from which blood was flowing freely, and two large gashes in her back from where wings had been a moment before. Amelia knew there was one way out near them, but figured she'd just break the wall down instead, since that would be easier at this point.

Amelia scrambled through her pockets for the Cure materia, and quickly grabbed it to use on Jennifer. Once the materia touched her skin, it immediately began healing many of her wounds, making them small cuts, but the wound on her left arm, (_from a bullet, probably_, Amelia decided,) basically remained the same. It was all Amelia had for now as far as medicine went, so it would have to do.

Amelia carefully hoisted up Jennifer's body with the ease as if she was a rag doll and tossed the battered form onto her shoulder. Amelia took several steps backward and inhaled deeply, then charged at the eastern wall, kicking it down with her feet using all of her strength.

For the first time in months, she was free. Outside, and tasting fresh air. The still-blaring sirens behind her reminded her to hurry, and she dashed out on to the lawn, and gave a kick off the ground into the air.

Suddenly, she realized she was flying. Amelia looked behind her to see she had one large, black feathered wing extended full length, which was about as tall as she was.

With a small feeling of giddyness, even concerning the situation, Amelia slowly moved the muscles in her wing, causing it to flap some, and lift her higher into the air.

Amelia grinned, and soared high into the sky.

From below, someone saw a One-Winged Angel swiftly flying past the full moon, carrying a small bundle on one shoulder.

* * *

A/N: Wow. That took forever to write! *breathes sigh of relief* Please, I beg you, review!


	6. A Rift Forms

A/N: Heeeeey guys, this chapter took forever to post - it looks like I will only be posting one chapter a week. And guess what?!?! I have FANART NOW!!!! OMG!!!11!!! You know you're on the right track if people are giving you fanart! As soon as I get the link, I'll let you guys know ^_~ And I also think that since I successfully creeped people out with the last chapter, we will need fluff soon. Oh, and I can start suggesting music that would work with the story if you like. I've been listening to Going Under by Evanescence, Prelude 12/21 by AFI, and Linkin Park's One Step Closer, in that order. W00t. Actually, that last one works the best for all of the dark parts. The one I listened to was on a Kadaj music video. Oooh! And go read **freakfan3754** and **cyberelf's** stories, too! They are my awesome fellow writer buddies!!! :D

Disclaimer guy: ....Do I even have to be here anymore? I feel so useless. I know, I'll make wise sage quotes from now on!

A/N: But then you're not my disclaimer dude anymore, you're my wise sage man.

"Wise Sage": Okay ^^ Well here's your tid bit for today:

_"If there is a lone red rose blooming in a tundra, and there's no one around to appreciate its beauty, is it truly beautiful?"_

* * *

Amelia had finally got the hang of gliding on the breeze, which got easier as the winds picked up, but then she saw storm clouds coming. She frowned. Flying in the air was not the best idea if it started storming. Amelia scanned the ground for a spot to land ahead - she had been flying as quickly from _Shinra Memorial Hospital_ as she could, but it looked like she would have to swoop down right into the worst section of the Midgar slums to avoid lightning.

Slowly fluttering her onyx wing and adjusting her body to be perpendicular with the ground again, Amelia stuck her boots out to swiftly meet the beaten dirt path approaching...

...with an unceremonious thump to her knees.

_Ugh. Must have misjudged that._

Jennifer made a small moan, but other than this, appeared as if asleep.

The rain began pitter-pattering on Amelia's head, and quickly turned into a torrent of a shower as thunder rumbled overhead.

Amelia felt exhausted from flying - not that it was difficult, or than Jenni was heavy or something, but she hadn't ever used her muscles so much in her life as in these last few hours, and was definitely ready for rest. Very little lamps lit the streets, and they cast just enough light to sometimes alert a person of a deep puddle's existence before their boots sloshed and squished through them first. It must be about 4:30 in the morning. Amelia briskly set off for a nearby hotel, and, having no free hands (one on a stolen rifle, just in case a Shinra agent tried to mess with her again, and the other supporting Jenni's limp body) decided to kick the door down.

WHAM.

A half-asleep young clerk at the dimly-lit front desk jolted awake upon the crack of the wooden front door into several pieces on the carpet.

And looked up just in time to see lightning flash on a panting figure in the doorway with silver hair and eerily glowing green Mako eyes, the lighting from the enraged storm casting an ethereal lighting on her silver hair.

Fully aware that her appearance would frighten the daylights out of anyone, and that this idiot might raise the alarm, Amelia growled, waving her gun a little as she did so,"Keep your mouth shut and get me a room - fast," she nodded to the lump on her shoulder.

The male clerk bugged his eyes out and scrambled in the drawer for a key hurriedly, and stammered an offer of assistance, which Amelia promptly declined, accepting the tinkling room key hastily and clambered up the stairs.

A little while later, Amelia was sitting by the window, gazing at what little sky was visible in order to glimpse the sky, her veins still pumping with adrenaline from all of the previous action so that she could not rest her weary muscles for well deserved sleep yet.

So peaceful was the quiet drizzling of the light rain and the darkness of the scene that Amelia was startled when she heard Mother's voice.

"_Why did you bring her with you?"_

Amelia paused, trying to understand why her mother sounded so...frustrated.

"She's a friend, Mother. And I couldn't let her be tormented by that disgusting villain any longer. Why do you ask?"

_"Just curious. How do you know that she will be as loyal to you as you have been to her?"_

Amelia hesitated again. Something was terribly wrong here. She couldn't quite place it, but she knew Mother did not trust Jennifer. Why not? If anything, Jennifer was overly loyal. She glanced back at the sleeping form on the other side of the room, and frowned.

"I don't understand what you mean." Amelia gritted slowly back in response, hinging on suspicion and realizing, with a sudden pang of sadness, that this was their first "argument".

"_Never mind_," with a harsh tone, Mother abruptly changed the subject, "_you aren't ready yet_."

"For what?" Amelia questioned with panic, wishing she could make Mother happy and understand what her problem was as well.

But Jenova's presence left her mind at this point, and Amelia, overwhelmed swiftly with the oncoming of the hundreds of bloody images she had managed to block from her mind thus far, and conflicting and confusing emotions regarding her Mother's behavior, caused her to quietly sob before she fell asleep against the window pane.

* * *

_Red everywhere...I can see it...I can feel...taste their fear. It drives me insane with glee, I must punish these creatures and I will laugh mercilessly as they attempt to escape. My claws fly and are drenched with blood. Revenge is sweet. _

_I turn to face my next nemesis, and chuckle darkly with a sinister smile. You fools, you dare think you can stop me now?_

Then...it's over. Everything fades to black. I feel sore all over, especially my left arm. Ugh. I know that was just a dream, but it seemed so...vivid. The reality of it disturbs me so that I cannot go back to restful sleep without the dream replaying again in some form. But I'm even more afraid to open my eyes. I don't want to know if it was real. I don't want to know...anything. I want to be at peace in the dark.

And so fitful sleep returns once more.

* * *

Jesus Christ this girl sleeps like a rock.

Amelia was getting bored waiting for Jennifer to wake up. She had already taken a shower, washed out her clothes, slept another nice power nap, made the bed, and eaten lunch. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon. At this rate, Jennifer was hibernating 'til spring. Or maybe longer...

Amelia glanced back at Jennifer, who was making whimpers of fear every now and then, and wondered if she should just wake her up. Then Amelia remembered her Mother's cold comment last night that she was "not ready yet". Amelia glared at the wall with frustration, wondering how she could prove herself ready to Mother. Perhaps she needed to be more powerful? Maybe she wasn't ready to summon Sephiroth back yet because she was a weakling. Amelia hit the floor with her clenched, black-gloved fist, the force of the thrust enough to make one of her several stolen materia roll across the floor. Amelia raised her eyebrow at it, then slowly picked up the glowing green orb.

With a smirk, she raised it to eye level, imitating Kadaj, and curiously observed it up close, watching the green mists inside.

Amelia wondered if she was able to absorb materia into her body like the Remnants. The orb felt practically weightless. Her green eyes glittered and contorted into cat-like slits as she slowly placed it to her skin, the warmth of the orb making her skin tingle.

* * *

With a gasp, I'm brought back to awakeness, feeling the floor shake underneath me. My body aches still, but I think it's mostly from just laying down so long. I don't want to dream anymore. The dreams sicken me.

_Or do they? I thought you enjoyed them._

I hear a dark and deep laugh which sounds disturbingly alot like my own. The voice sends chills up my spine, and I see black everywhere. Dammit where the hell am I?

Before I can voice out loud, "Who are you?" I see someone- or thing - approaching me.

Oh my god.

It has my face.

And...it looks like Chaos.

The demon sneers at me, grinning its pointy canines and squinting through yellow eyes. "Welcome, my _dear_ host."

* * *

Jennifer had screamed out randomly in her sleep, clutching her chest, and bolting upright, eyes wide with alarm.

Amelia dropped her green materia hastily and almost guiltily, her eyes reverting back to non-slits as she rose anxiously.

Jennifer took a moment to collect herself, staring at the cheap blue-squared wall paper of the hotel room, breathing heavily, not really seeing anything. Then stared at her left arm to see why it was so hot, tingly, and numb. The whole arm appeared inflamed and red, with a scar forming in the area where she had been shot before, and some black, dried blood over the area. Jennifer tested her fingers to make sure they still worked, then numbly returned her gaze through the wallpaper to some vision only she could see.

Amelia stepped closer hesitantly,"Jenni?"

Jennifer violently swerved her head in Amelia's direction.

Amelia blinked. Jenni's eyes were no longer a calm brown, but piercing red.

Jenni looked as though she were doing the same double take on Amelia, noticing that eye contacts were no longer the reason for Amelia's green eyes...contacts don't make your eyes glow.

Amelia recovered quickly, and grinned like things were as normal as if they were back at the college dorm. "Welcome back to the living, Jenni. You've been out like a light all day. Geez, it's almost time for dinner now, dude!"

Jenni stared, smiled weakly for a moment, then stared at the floor. She opened her mouth to ask something, with an expression of desperation, then changed her mind. "How long have I been asleep?"

Amelia scratched her head. "If you mean today, like twelve hours, I guess. If you mean _before_, a couple months."

Jennifer gaped in horror, "_Months_?!"

Amelia shrugged with weak humor,"Hey, it's nothing compared to Vincent Valentine, right? That guy slept for years!"

Jennifer shuddered suddenly, causing Amelia to raise her eyebrow. "Hey, uh, Am-Amy? I had this...really weird dream..." Jennifer began with a small voice in hope, which caused Amelia to close her eyes and sigh.

"Jenni...that wasn't a dream. You turned into Chaos back there. Hey," Amelia sat by Jenni and patted her on the back consolingly as she began to sob pitifully, "At least you're a damn sexy demon!" Amelia ceased laughing immediately as Jenni glared at her with infuriated red eyes.

"You don't understand," Jennifer whispered, "I killed people. I _KILLED_ THEM!" She shouted this last part, then buried her head in her arms with hiccuping tears.

Amelia suddenly became defensive, since she had attacked guards of her own free will. "Jenni, they, were going, to KILL US! It's not like we really had a choice!!!" Amelia protested hotly back, shouting every word a little bit louder, paying no heed to the fact that the relatively thin walls of the hotel were probably letting every other occupant know there were two deranged psycho killers next door.

"There's always a choice," mumbled Jennifer through her crossed arms over her knees.

"Jenni, it's not like you even were yourself at that point. It wasn't your fault!"

"It was! Yes it was! I..." Here she faltered, afraid to go on. "I...It was like...I didn't even mind anymore. I didn't care about them. They were...worthless, not human to me...I just...oh, Amy I'm a monster!" Jennifer buried her head in Amelia's shoulder, and they stayed there for some while, not knowing how to face the future.

Eventually, Jennifer went to shower, and Amelia paced the room restlessly before deciding Jennifer would be alright for a little bit by herself, and went to go grab them some dinner.

* * *

I don't want to feel anymore. I don't want to think. I wish I could die now, just curl up and sleep without dreams for a while. I'm guessing this is how Vincent was, when he first woke. I scowl at the tiled floor of the bathroom, avoiding eye contact with my own reflection in the mirror, afraid of what I'll see. If I had only never learned about Vincent, or Final Fantasy for that matter, I wouldn't have been turned into a killer. Amy is right, it's not my fault that those soldiers died. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have prevented any of this from happening. I grab a towel and cloth off the rack, only bothering to take a shower because I want to scrub myself raw of any possible blood or whatnot that resides on my skin from when I turned into a monster.

I never want to think of Vincent again. If I had never admired him, I wouldn't be..._exactly like him_.

I know that's unfair to Vincent, since I know that he has a good heart, but I have to blame somebody right now to vent this on besides myself. Or I don't think I can cope with this anymore without becoming suicidal.

I wonder if that's even possible anymore. For me to die. I laugh heartlessly, the laugh sounding hoarse and alien to me. Like someone else.

I finally chance a glance at the mirror, and a pale as a ghost, tear-stricken face which hasn't seen sunlight or had a proper amount of Iron nutrition stares coldly back at me. My black hair, which was barely at shoulder-length before, is now at least two or three inches longer. What strikes me the most, illiciting a small cry of shock from my dry throat, is the red eyes. Blood red. I lean closer to the mirror until my face is only three inches or less from its surface, gazing into the garnet irises for any sign of brown, only to be amazed by the way I look exactly like Vincent...except I'm female, have a round face, and I have never seen a picture of Vincent with such an expression of shame and horror.

I look down at my hands. No blood is visible, but I hastily snatch the soap and scrub vigorously for a good four whole minutes, so that my hands have been rubbed raw and are now stinging. I collapse on the toilet seat, pondering on my future. I never want to walk into a hospital again, because I can no longer trust that I or anyone else there will be in safe hands. Amy had it a lot harder than me, I have to give her credit for not falling apart. She's always had a very strong, firey personality, but when I had read out of that lab notebook of Hojo's about the experiment he was going to do to her, I didn't know if her spirit would break. She's always wanted to be "Lady Sephiroth"; now she is. I just hope it doesn't go to her head...no pun intended, but I hope she doesn't lose her mind, either. _If lame old Cloud can take it, she can, too_, I decide. Then my thoughts drift over to how we will survive. I don't have any money, and I doubt Amelia does. I seriously doubt anyone will hire a Sephiroth-look alike for a job, and my appearance isn't exactly as friendly as it was once, either.

I gently massage my left arm, feeling the scab of the wound, then wonder if I can ever be a doctor now. I guess not, if I don't like hospitals. And I doubt any kids will want to see a pediatrician with red evil eyes who could turn into their monster that lives under the bed. I sigh, the word "kids" reminding me of home. Immediately, my mind is swamped with memories of several children running around the house, laughing and screaming. Thanks to Hojo, even if I do find a way back home, I can't return. I can't go back now, to all of my little siblings and face my family as a wretched monster. Slowly, I form a wall, stone by stone in my brain, to let all of my sweet and happy memories of home be blocked behind. They are too painful for me to deal with right now.

I narrow my eyes at the opposite wall, remembering what feels to me like yesterday, when Hojo was cackling and shot me with that sleep dart. I see his sharp nose, spectacles, and beady wild eyes in front of me. My fingers clench the seat tightly, and I growl with anger at the man who has so completely fucked up me and my friend's lives. With a sudden outburst of fury, I jump to my feet and throw the toilet lid up as hard as I can, since throwing the towel will not have the same loud effect to satisfy my frustration. The resounding clang of the lid against the back of the utility is painful to my sensitive ears, but what surprises me is that the lid has cracked in half.

Oops.

I woder what Amelia will say when she discovers I broke the toilet.

I snort with contempt, but feel calmer now, and finally go take my shower - mostly just standing under the water and letting it flow in cool trickles over my skin.

* * *

About an hour later, Amelia triumphantly returned from the streets of the downtown rough neighborhood section of Midgar, arms full of goodies, and stalked back into the hotel, nodding to the nervous clerk as she passed by. Before she even entered the room, she could hear the sound of the shower water still running. Amelia shook her head, wondering if Jenni had fallen asleep in there, then deposited some snacks on the bed for Jenni to have when she got out, as well as a bag of Gil. It had been fun, actually, to rob that stupid teen jock guy who had bumped into her. He'd been rude, so he was asking for it. About half an hour later, after waiting impatiently for the water to turn off, Amelia gave up and went back outside.

She had an...errand to run.

Amelia barged into the weapons shop, attempting her best evil Sephiroth expression. Needless to say, any other potential customers cleared out immediately, and the shopkeeper deserted his post as well.

With a snort, Amelia remarked, "Well that was easy."

"Guess I'll just browse these lovely katanas over here," she murmured with glee, and immediately found one in particular that caught her fancy.

It was 69 inches long, just barely longer than she was tall, and had a very thin blade. The hilt was black leather bound over very tightly, and the sword was meant to be carried on one's back, using the two criss-crossing black leather shoulder straps. There was no sign of rust, and she had been very well crafted. Yes, she. Amelia decided, unhooking the sword from its display location and trying it out, that she would have to think of a name for her new katana at some point. The blade felt light to her, despite its length and metal structure, but that was probaly because of her enhanced strength. It was very pricey, but luckily, cost wouldn't be an issue for Amelia if there was no shopkeeper.

Amelia grinned proudly, and strapped the sword to her back, then proudly returned to the hotel with her new trophy.

--=-=-=-=-=--=---=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=--

When Amelia re-entered the room, it was about she found Jennifer resting half-awake against the wall with her back, arms crossed over her knees again, looking very emo.

She glanced at the snacks. Nope. Untouched.

Amelia ignored this, and announced loudly, "Hey Jenni! Look at my new sword!"

Jennifer blinked, glancing up as though she had never noticed Amelia enter the room, the raised an eyebrow. "Where the hell did you get the money to pay for that?"

Amelia grinned smugly, "Oh, I just did a little...convincing, if you know what I mean."

Jennifer did not smile, but she at least looked a little brighter now, distracted from whatever she was thinking of.

"As long as you don't get caught, we don't want Shinra to come looking for us again. If someone heard that a Sephiroth girl was around, and found where we were staying -"

"Then I'd slaughter them to pieces with this baby," Amelia patted her shining sword affectionately.

Jennifer reached a hand out curiously to touch it, then stopped, her eyes asking Amelia's permission. Amelia grinned and handed it to her, and Jennifer carefully tried to hold it, but found it was heavier than she expected. For some reason, she forgot that a real metal katana would be much more heavy than the toy wooden Masamune that Amelia had made so long ago for Anime Boston. After examining its quality respectfully for a moment, Jennifer handed the katana back to her swordswoman buddy.

After finishing admiring the details of the sword and putting it up for the moment, Amelia jerked her thumb at the food that she had left on the bed. "You gonna eat anything today? Remember, you haven't eaten for months now."

Jennifer shook her head, "I don't really need to eat food anymore as much, I guess. I might later, but...I think I just need time to think."

Amelia frowned, "You've just been sitting there all day, or in the shower. I think you'll feel better if you eat something."

"I don't think I have the stomach for it at this point," Jennifer muttered crossly.

Amelia sighed, "Suit yourself."

About three hours of Amelia flipping through TV channels later, and Jennifer pretending she was sleeping sitting up but really watching the TV to get her mind off things, Amelia announced that she was going to bed.

* * *

I know Amelia's trying to cheer me up and whatnot, but it's kind of hard for me to not be disturbed right now. I have no idea where we will go from here: she could be killed by AVALANCHE if they even see her, or she might go psycho anyways. From my position leaning against the window sill, I glance over at the lump in the bed on the other side of the room. We were both avoiding talking about Hojo, experiments, Jenova, AVALANCHE, or even Shannon right now. We were unsure what Shannon would say about our situation and each a little nervous about calling her back. I feel in my pocket for the cell phone that had somehow stayed in my pocket, but find also the two shards of that damn materia that brought us here in the first place. I would have gotten rid of the materia long ago, except I feel that it has some value - even if we are unable to ever reverse our experiments, which I doubt we can, and thus are unable to return home, it still possesses some unnameable importance to me. Maybe just as a keepsake to remind me. Of what, I'm not sure. Why I'm in this mess is definitely the negative side, and how I should remember that this burden of guilt is mine to bear. The positive side...I can still try to make my own new future here. Perhaps I could be a hero. I remember some quote in a Spiderman movie, where either Peter Parker's dad or uncle or something told him that power has enormous responsibility and should be used responsibly. I should apply that to my life, too, and if I can't save people's lives as a doctor, I can just draw art for fun, be a bodyguard as a job, and go join AVALANCHE if there is a reason to save the world, should I happen to bump into them.

I sigh, finally relieved to have made some kind of plan for my future, and, finally at some level of ease, attempt to drift to sleep.

_...My body is falling through the air, probably several stories worth of feet already, and my fear of heights is adding to my mass panic. There is a blur of silver hair swooping past me at a great speed, and I see the flash of leather and sword blur too late. Although my panicking causes me to kick around in the air to escape the fiend, I end up getting grazed in the leg through my jeans by the katana's blade, enough to draw blood. I'm starting to see red again, but there is no way that I want to morph into Chaos again. I desperately use my other foot to kick off of the villain's body, to turn and get a glimpse of this enemy's face -_

_But then my dream changes to the bloody visuals of that night back at Shinra again, through the eyes of Chaos._

Immediately, I snap awake, breathing heavily, refusing to watch those nightmares again. According to the digital clock on the dresser's red numerals, it's a little after four in the morning. Ugh. I am never gonna get peaceful rest.

Tired of this nightmare frenzy, I open the window for a breath of fresh air. Huh. I didn't realize our floor was up so high. This must be about the 22nd floor or something.

I look up, and notice that this is the top floor. I get a strange impulse to go sit up on the roof and watch the sun rise. Having nothing better to do, and afraid that the TV will wake up Amelia, I exit the room to look for a stairway to the roof. Actually, I can't remember the last time I was outside of a building, before the day Bahamut arrived. At least this will be a change of scenery from blue square wallpaper.

* * *

About noon later...

Okay, Amelia had had enough of this bullshit.

"JENNI! STOP BEING SO FUCKING EMO!!!"

Jennifer finally smiled, raising an eyebrow, "What, watching the news is emo now?"

"YOU'VE BEEN SITTING IN THAT DAMN LITTLE EMO CORNER FAR LONG ENOUGH!!!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes, but Amelia continued, "You are _coming with me_, and you are going to eat lunch _now_, vampire woman or not. And we are going to _go have fun_ and _enjoy_ ourselves. Understand?"

Amelia was being completely serious, because her friend's uncharacteristic moodiness was driving her on edge.

Eventually, Amelia dragged the half-way willing Jennifer out the door to the market, and they began shopping. (With Amelia's stolen Gil, of course.)

Jennifer claimed she would accompany Amelia only to make sure she "didn't go stealing from little old ladies", but Amelia noticed Jenni's eyes light up at the mention of ice cream.

It was a fairly warm and sunshin-y day, so it was perfect for shopping at outdoor market tables. Members of the crowd stayed far away from Amelia, but the two didn't mind, because then they got more elbow room.

* * *

This is definitely what I needed. A happy break where we can pretend this is all normal, that we're just regular college girls going shopping. Albeit, with demons in our heads and swords and guns, but, nevertheless, otherwise normal...ish.

All was going well for a while; we got our ice cream and it was absolutely yummy. My stomach was quite pleased with the chocolate and caramel swirls with a cherry....oh man I'm rambling about ice cream. Ha.

We each bought new boots with buckles out of practicality; convention dress boots simply aren't going to cut it if Shinra guards are attacking. We got black leather gloves, and I got a scarf since it was slightly chilly, and, sadly enough, probably around or during fall season by this point. I was too embarrassed to ask anyone around us the date, and hadn't watched the news long enough to see the date - just the time. Amelia got a new belt and a satchel for hoarding goodies like Materia and any booty she might just "happen to pick up"...we both knew she meant looting anyone that was a fallen enemy, but pretended to ignore that detail. I bought a string to use for a necklace to wear the materia on, as stupid as that is, because I was tired of it sitting in my pocket. I hesitated when Amelia pointed out gauntlets, looking at me pointedly.

I examined my burnt arm. It had repaired rather quickly, but it appeared as though I might be permanently scarred. Vaguely, I wondered if having a bullet lodged in one's arm for good would set off metal detectors at airports. Maybe I could use a gauntlet to cover up the scar, and make me look less vulnerable.

I had finally decided I didn't care if I stood out. Red eyes? Okay, maybe a little unusual. But someone might think then that besides this detail, I was an ordinary harmless girl who would pose no threat. A gauntlet would be a nice little warning sign.

I guess all of these thoughts were clearly written all over my face, because Amelia suddenly grinned, and drawled, "Oh yeah, Jenni, about the _toilet_..."

She got no further before I burst into laughter at the poor toilet's cruel fate. Amelia looked relieved I was acting normal again, and started laughing, too, until we both were falling on each other from laughing so hard, causing the salesman to have a very confused expression.

Needless to say, I purchased the gauntlet.

Then I spotted the church down the street. It seemed oddly familiar...flowers in the front, blooming happily despite the fact it was no longer their season.

Amelia cast a glance at the direction I was looking in, and made a weird face of worry and fear. This was an AVALANCHE area after all.

"Oh come on, Jenni, do we have to?"

I nodded, "It'll make me feel better. At least for that lab assistant who tried to help us."

Reluctantly, Amelia agreed, but I saw her finger her sword handle nervously.

Then I felt a familiar tug on the back of my mind, which I realized was Chaos. Chaos was hissing, and acting...afraid of some presence nearby.

* * *

Amelia was a little apprehensive about being at the church, but she suddenly felt the presence of Mother enter in her mind. She was about to greet Mother, when she heard her say, "_It would please me if you retrieved the Rezkon Materia for me. That would help tremendously in decreasing the time for our Reunion's completion_."

This suggestion, which felt more like a command, became stronger and stronger, almost painful. Amelia knew that this would be the key to winning Mother's undoted affection as well, but kept hesitating because something felt out of place.

Suddenly, Amelia was jolted out of her inward daydream to reality, with Jennifer looking worried, and grabbing Amelia's arm to get her to run.

* * *

I don't know why, but Chaos is afraid of him. For some reason, I can't look back over my shoulder at the gunslinger, because I am suddenly afraid of him as well. Vincent Valentine is following us. I grab Amy's arm and run, but even now that we're running, I can still feel his presence pursuing us swiftly.

Not exactly how I pictured bumping into Vinnie. I thought it might be a romantic or cool moment, not run-for-your-life-because-vincent-is-after-your-sephiroth-look-alike-friend-and-is-your-rivalor-enemy-since-you-have-a-demon-too moment.

I suggest for Amelia to create a diversion, and immediately she smiles, whipping out her katana at the nearest individual just to scare them.

Oops.

"HELP!!!SEPHIROTH IS GOING TO KILL US ALL!!!!"

Well, at least we have a diversion. It will be hard for Valentine to get through a crowd of shrieking masses of people.

As we push through the stupid crowd, Amelia moans, exasperated, "Has nobody noticed I am _female_ yet? _Sephiroth is not female_! Gawd, you people are so _blind_."

After breathlessly escaping back to the hotel, though, and slamming the door to our room closed, I noticed Amelia had a strained smile, and was holding her hand to her head like she had a headache.

Then shook it off, and randomly threw a pillow at me. Yeah. A pillow.

"PILLOW FIGHT!!!!"

We screamed with laughter like stupid giddy children, and kind of mutilated all of the hotel pillows in our fight.

"Would you care to dance?" joked Amelia, waving the dead pillow like a weapon.

I'm not sure at what point the play fight became serious, but I eventually noticed that our blows were getting more violent, and the room was getting smaller. I started getting nervous, and realized Amelia's pupils were contorted into slits. She grabbed her katana, her mischievous grin beginning to appear more serious and deadly.

Oh shit. She lost her marbles.

We began kicking off and launching from beds and the wall, Amelia attacking, me just dodging, yelling at Amelia in terror and trying to wake some sense into her.

"AMELIA?!?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?!"

I was suddenly pinned against the window, her katana almost grazing against my neck.

Amelia was breathing easily, my breath was labored. Ameliused the katana to lift the necklace on my neck up an inch.

"Mother has...need for this." She smirked.

Okay, if your mother wants it, okay. Jenova? Not okay.

I kick off her, and backwards through the glass, spiraling to the street below.

SHIT!!!!

My body is falling through the air, probably several stories worth of feet already, and my fear of heights is adding to my mass panic. There is a blur of silver hair swooping past me at a great speed, and I see the flash of leather and sword blur too late. Although my panicking causes me to kick around in the air to escape the fiend, I end up getting grazed in the leg through my jeans by the katana's blade, enough to draw blood. I'm starting to see red again, but there is no way that I want to morph into Chaos again. I desperately use my other foot to kick off of the villain's body, to turn and get a glimpse of this enemy's face -

Damn. This was just like my dream.

Oh god, Amy.


	7. Projections

**A/N:** Hey guys, sorry for the delays between each post, but I'm glad you all are enjoying my work so far! :)

Songs I listened to for this chapter's inspiration: In the End by Linkin Park, Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, and Vincent's Theme:The Nightmare Begins

Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and favoriting my story to their alerts!

**Wise Sage**: What do a lawyer, an artist, a politician, a storyteller, a cartographer, and a dictator all have in common? They each have their own projections of reality...a projection, is defined in geography as a map which attempts to portray the 3-D globe in a 2-D fashion and will always fail because this is impossible. Projections...they shall always remain mere distortions of the truth.

* * *

_Only minutes before..._

Amelia was slightly confused as to why her ultimate-Vincent-fangirl friend was urging her to run when Vincent Valentine began to approach them, and especially shocked to notice the fear written all over her face. At first, Amelia thought Jennifer was worrying that Vincent was going to get her, because she looked so much like a Sephiroth remnant, but quickly realized there was another reason, seeing as Jenni's face was pale, and her eyes distant, as though not really looking at the street to run, much less even looking back at Vincent...

Amelia wondered if Chaos was involved, and resolved to ask Jennifer about it later.

But, for now, Amelia had problems of her own. Mother was bugging her alot, and starting to give her a headache...

"Child, you are testing my patience. This girl has been delaying you from returning to me, and you still have not retrieved the Rezkon Materia for me."

Amelia rolled her eyes._ Mother, I'm kind of running from a crazy gunman right now, can't you talk to me about this damn materia thing later?_

Jennifer grabbed Amelia's arm roughly, her eyes wide and urgent, "Amelia? Are you listening to me? We need a diversion or something to get rid of him! Now!"

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

After terrorizing the crowd with her katana and successfully putting some distance between them and the gunslinger, Amelia thought she could finally breathe a sigh of relief, and she did -

Until her eyes caught on the two Rezkon mateia shards on Jennifer's necklace that glinted as Jennifer hurried to slam the door to their hotel room shut.

Jenova shrieked, "NOW!"

_Shut up_, Amelia moaned inwardly, feeling a cold nervousness fall like a rock in her stomach. Immediately, searing pain lashed across her skull, and it was all Amelia could do to not scream in anguish. Outwardly, it only appeared that she had slightly moaned, put her hands to her head, and maybe had a slight headache. Inside, she was yelling in terror, feeling her last threads of control slip away.

"I'm sorry, Daughter," whispered Jenova's voice with motherly tenderness, "But until you learn to accept my will as Sephiroth did, I shall have to hold you under my wing. You have been deceived, whether you choose to believe it, or not."

Amelia struggled to maintain a normal face, so as not to frighten Jennifer, but knew something terrible was about to happen.

"Why do you choose to side with her? She will turn against you when she learns of our plans..."

Amelia threw a pillow at Jennifer to distract her, trying to laugh and make herself appear to be feeling normal, get her stress down from the day, or just shut Jenova up, NO! NO! LEAVE ME!

"She is too sympathetic of the human race that has desolated our race...she would rather the enemy survive, which would kill you, than allow you to complete your rightful revenge..."

Amelia halted in her tracks, eyes widening, to stare back at Jennifer in a new light. For once, Mother was right.

There was something terribly wrong about that. Mother was right - Jennifer was against any murdering, but ever since Mother had come to comfort her in her loneliness and fear in her hospital prison, with filthy humans constantly prodding and poking her and doing insane tests, she had grown to despise most humans. They were a despicable, disgusting race. They wanted her _dead;_ after they had tortured her for so long, it should be them who should die, slowly, and painfully, as she was slowly torn apart constantly at Hojo's hands.

Why the hell did Jennifer pity these creatures? Why was she willing to let her friend DIE instead of these EVIL BEASTS!?!?

In fury, Amelia increased the force at which she catapulted her pillow-weapons at Jennifer, who was completely oblivious to Amelia's hurt.

Jenova continued convincingly, "As you once told me yourself...the girl is...too loyal..."

That did it. Amelia's sanity was gone, and she snatched up her katana in a flurry. If Jennifer was going to be that way, fine. She could care less.

All that mattered now, was that she incinerate the foul human race into ashes, and if she retrieved the Rezkon Materia successfully, it would be a piece of cake. But, she would give this traitor a bit of fun first.

Amelia heard Jennifer's gasp, and grinned wickedly before charging her victim.

* * *

What, the, bloody, fucking, HELL!?!?!

Or something along the lines of that was flying through my mind when Amelia had first attacked me. Somehow, in all of the crashing and flying across the room, I must have grabbed this metal thing that's in my hands now as I'm flying to my doom to the street like several hundred feet below.

Damn, its no weapon, just the Vincent claw.

FUCK YOU VINCENT!!!! Ugh, fuck everything, fuck Jenova, me going to the damn con, me liking and learning about Vincent, fuck my hell hole of a life, whatever's left of it. Fuck heights...I am absolutely frightened out of my wits, having stopped screaming several seconds ago, even though I am still inside and the leg Amelia just grazed with her evil fucking sword is bleeding like hell. Red is flickering at the edges of my vision like little flames.

I want to go home.

"_Are you done complaining yet? If you aren't going to defend yourself, I'm taking over your body right now."_

Chaos?

In the split second that all of my thoughts on how much I hated everything and Chaos spoke to me, I saw a blur of black whiz up above me.

I assumed it was Amelia, then realized she should be falling down, too...not up...

Shit, the ground just got a lot closer. Think, think, think -

-half a second wasted on panic.

Oh my god...Amelia has a wing...a big, black, feathery, Sephiroth-looking wing. She was soaring higher quickly, probably in order to increase the rate at which she would accelerate towards me in a moment when she made her return dive to slash through me and my poor stomach.

I'm doubly screwed. I can only fly if I'm Chaos.

"_Allow me control, human_," growled Chaos in warning, and I'm extremely tempted to, but I am even more petrified of turning into the demon again...because I am conscious this time, and I will witness every single detail.

I do not want to watch as Chaos shreds Amelia into pieces. Or, for that matter, be conscious to feel pain when Amelia kicks my butt.

If there is such a thing as a fear switch, I guess I flicked it off for the moment. I forced myself to go numb to the sensations of the air brushing past my face and through my hair and clothes at an alarming speed, instead shoving the gauntlet onto my left hand. The inside was black leather, cool against the palm of my hand, whereas the outside golden metal was extremely sharp and had wicked-looking talons for the fingers. Just putting on the gauntlet makes me feel like a completely different person. Maybe its just me, but I think my heartbeat settled down, even though I should still be panicking at my lack of defense.

Amelia was making her return dive now, and I've wasted another second and a half on thinking and putting on the gauntlet.

I've got to avoid morphing into Chaos at all costs, no matter what the demon says. I know Amelia's not in her right mind right now, and wouldn't really want to hurt me, so I've got to do my best to not hurt her, either. I'll stake my life on wearing her down, if I can.

I kick against the air at just the right moment, and use my gauntlet arm to snare with pointy fingers onto the roof of the building, lifting myself up swiftly with upper arm strength I know isn't my own. I'm actually grateful for my enhanced abilities for once, now. Straightening to my full height, I turn to face the Jenova-controlled woman I have come to regard as one of my closest friends, and wait for her to taunt me or make a move to attack.

However, I did not expect the goading words that came out of her sneering mouth as she hovered gracefully ten feet above the roof, with one ebony wing fluttering gently. "Jennifer, you are nothing more than a monster. Fight me like the demon you are!"

Blink.

I stare at her silently, trying to determine her meaning: this doesn't sound like something Jenova would say exactly. Or Amelia. Even though her accusation pains me in my heart, I shrug it off and wait for her to continue, with the hope I can convince her to come to her senses.

"Hah! You're becoming even more heartless by the minute! You fucking traitor!" Amelia waves her extremely long and dangerous sword carelessly, knowing my fear of pointy, sharp objects, and I observe the weapon's every movement from the corner of my eye.

I guess staring at her with my red eyes makes me seem less...er, delightfully chatty? But has she forgotten she just fucking attacked me and threw me nearly to my death, and is waving a sword around to threaten me?

"How can you accuse _me_ of being a traitor," I utter softly, with my patience leaking and venom beginning to drip off of my words, "when you are the one who's acting like you want to kill me?"

Amelia rolls her eyes, having landed now, she begins to pace in a circle around me, which slowly is drawing much too close for my liking.

"Jennifer, you just don't understand, do you? Give me that necklace." She orders, pointing the blade with a sudden movement at my neck, and, although Amelia is standing 30 feet from my body, I tense immediately.

"...No," I finally answer firmly, struggling to keep my voice clear and even. Chaos is whispering something in my ear, and I feel bile rising at the back of my mouth.

She shrugs, then smirks, "Nice knowing you, buddy."

With a jump, she launches herself at me, aiming at my my throat.

With strangely unnatural reflexes, I made some piroutte-like movement and deflected the main amount of the blade's force off with my gauntlet arm. Of course, enhanced strength and reflexes can't erase the old trait of clumsiness...

The blade ricocheted back after the grating sound of metal on metal, but still had red sticky liquid on it.

I had staggered backwards, and even though I saved my head from being severed from my body, my unprotected shoulder had been torn into. The unlucky stumble I got from the sheer shock of Amelia's force made me trip on my own feet backwards to slam with a crunch against the brick smokestack-wall-thing behind me.

**_Ow._** My back...

I close my eyes involuntarily as my entire vision other than the direct center becoming vividly red. My head was spinning, not just from the impact, but reeling with confusion and despair. I was having trouble thinking straight, and my left shoulder and my leg were still in extreme pain.

Kind of hard to think of a witty remark to your ex-friend who's out of her mind when your body is screaming, "I HATE YOU!! WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF, JENNI?!?!"

"Amelia," I whimper, gasping for breath,"Please, stop listening to Jenova. I know you're better than this..."

Amelia must be in front of me now, because I see a shadow move in front of me behind my closed lids. I force myself to open my eyes, and meet her steady gaze.

"Why not? Obviously you cannot begin to fathom Mother's great power - or do you need a better demonstration?" Amelia slowly pulled a brightly-glowing green orb from her jet-black leather trenchcoat pocket, the eerie lighting casting a frightening shine to her facial features.

Terrorized, I begin to realize I am very much afraid of this woman now. And that she is someone completely alien to me now, whether I wish to believe it or not.

"A-AMY!!!" I cry out desperately, but with a devilish grin she absorbs the materia into her skin.

I slam my tearing eyes shut, but the lightning materia zaps my body with harsh tendrils of electricity nevertheless. My limbs are shaking, and the screams I've been forcing silent until now explode without bound.

_You call this girl your **ally**? Human, you are a fool._

I think I'm about to give into Chaos...I can't keep this up much longer...forgive me, Amelia...

* * *

Amelia would finally be able to please Mother - defeating Chaos would certainly be a boast-worthy achievement. And the traitor would be destroyed.

Any concept of Jennifer Allens as somebody who once was her roommate, study companion, one of her best friends...had gone out the window.

It was only Amelia, the last female of a race completely annihilated by filthy, overbreeding, and heartless humans, and a weak enemy who opposed her rightful revenge, and especially anyone affiliated with Sephiroth or Jenova.

The only problem was, it was taking too long for the Chaos-girl to assume her alternate form...at this rate, she would destroy herself first, and Amelia would not get to fight the demon. Which was completely unacceptable.

So Amelia was forced to waste a precious lightning materia on the feeble half-human in front of her.

Amelia commanded with a hiss, "TRANSFORM!!!"

Jennifer groaned, gasping for breath now that she had a small break from electricity, coughed up a little blood, and refused to meet Amelia's gaze through her half-lidded crimson eyes, preferring instead to hide behind her long bangs.

"Please...Amy, don't make me do something I'll regret..."

Amelia jeered sardonically, "That's kind of the point," and jabbed Jennifer's side lightly with the point of her sword - enough to cause pain, but not enough to slice and cause any more blood loss, because she wanted to make sure the demon had enough blood left to put up a worthy fight.

"Besides," Amelia continued, hoping to speed up this process with mockery, "I can easily defeat your pitiful demon form, and I will soon be on my way to reunite with Sephiroth. Face it - you're weak, even with Chaos."

That did it.

Jennifer hated being powerless to do anything about situations...whether hopelessly trying to cheer up a friend struggling in class, making a child feel better who refused to be comforted about a broken toy...or having the huge weight on her shoulders of stopping her ex-friend from destorying both her and then the rest of the world.

Immediately, a change came over Jennifer's expression: her face, already way too pale from blood loss, got a little bit paler. Jennifer slowly lifted her head, her bangs casting a shadow over her half-open eyes...and yellow flickered where the white should have been. And a very out-of-place sneer contorted her mouth as she growled, her voice a blend between its normal range and one an octave lower,

"_**You want to bet on that**_?"

Oops. Maybe it would have just been easier to just kill her as a human...

Jennifer was losing her sense of self. Red everywhere.

There was blood on her mouth where she had coughed it up earlier, and she licked her lips with a grin.

The woman with silver hair suppressed a shudder, then lunged with her sword for the demon's heart, but ended up receiving a long slash in the back from long talons.

With a yowl of anger, but mostly just hurt pride, Amelia performed a forward flip, lashing at Chaos's right wing in the process.

The demon roared with anger, and slammed the side of its body into Amelia's to force her off of the roof.

Luckily for Amelia, she could fly.

...oh yeah, the damn demon could, too.

Fuck.

Amelia zoomed higher, thrusting her wing with precision to gain altitude as swiftly as possible, but her pursuer was quickly gaining on her.

Amelia cast several lightning balls behind her as she soared through the city, Chaos avoiding most of them, but finally getting hit by one particularly large energy mass, and slamming onto the roof of a skyscraper.

Amelia triumphantly reversed directions to finish off the demon, but halted with surprise.

Jennifer was collapsed against the roof's edge, lifting up a necklace...the one with the Rezkon materias. Using Chaos's rumbling voice, she yelled, "YOU WANT THIS THING? GO GET IT!" and with a powerful thrust, threw the necklace over the edge as hard as she could.

Amelia panicked, not wanting the precious metal to shatter, and dived after it at a violent speed.

* * *

...Somehow, Chaos got me back to my hotel room. And I'm...human...for the moment. Amelia hasn't come back here yet, but she will soon. I just don't know if she is going to still kill me or not. I only dropped one of the two materia, and kept the other safe in my pocket.

I assume she will, and I grab one of the small guns that she swiped from the Shinra guards. I don't know anything about guns, but I'm going to assume its loaded.

I try to block the memory of my own...claws...scraping her skin...unsuccessfully, and bite my lip. My heart is still thumping like crazy, and I feel sick to my stomach upon realizing that the excitement of power coursing through my veins is fascinating. It was only very reluctantly that Chaos had allowed me to regain control.

I readjust the straps on my gauntlet, rub one of my bleeding wounds, and glare at the shattered window, waiting for her to return.

I don't have to wait too long.

I hear her wings fluttering nearly silently several moments before Amelia actually enters the window frame.

I hug the gun to my side as a child might cling to a teddy bear when a monster from a nightmare is about to emerge from the closet.

Amelia doesn't rush me with an attack, however. She appears confused, and is staring at me with a lost expression, still holding the single materia I dropped.

I lower the gun slowly; could it be that Amelia is Amelia again?

"Jenni," she whispers, and my heart drops like a stone to hear Amelia sound so broken, "I...I'm sorry. I..." she trails off to avoid my gaze and stare out the window, "I have failed you...and yet, I feel like Mother might be right."

Oh god. I instinctively clutch the weapon to my chest again, unsure whether I will have to use it.

But when Amelia looks back at me again, her eyes are so empty. "I'm going to Nibelheim...I need to sort some things out. You _can't_ follow me," she interrupts me before I can even protest, my eyes wide with fear, knowing that is exactly how Sephiroth lost his mind, and not wanting to permanently lose Amelia while she still has a chance of retaining her sanity.

I stare at her in silent horror, agape, and she continues, emphasizing every word, "You must not follow me, because I can't promise you any more that I..."

Nothing more needs to be said.

I swallow, tears coursing down my face again, and notice her face is glistening with water as well.

I try to say something, anything...a protest, a goodbye, a wait!...nothing comes out except a small stifled sob.

Amelia looks out at the city once more, turns back to me, nods solemnly, and then she's gone with a jerk of her head skywards and a _fwit, fwit, fwit,_ into the atmosphere.

My paralyzed legs snap to their feet and I race to the window, watching hopelessly as her form soon becomes a mere speck in the sky. I collapse with mourning onto the floor, and just rest against the wall there for the next hour.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

A pencil swirled on a piece of notebook paper, creating fine details and shadows, occasionally being smudged on purpose for the right effect by another hand.

The pencil and hand belonged to a student in an Italian classroom, who was obviously not paying attention to the teacher lecturing at the front of the room.

He had a strong French accent and constantly caused chuckles among her classmates, especially when going on a long tangent about Italian culture and using his French accent to try and pronounce peculiar English words such as "Twinkies". He even looked alot like Mario or maybe Luigi since he was kind of tall and skinny...imagine Mario teaching French, and that's basically the right idea.

And he loved to say, "WACKO!!!" or "isn't this so wonderful?" about any random new point...or tangent...that he went on. Which was about once every five or ten minutes of the three and a half hour class.

Even though he was hilarious to listen to, and easy to tune out (since he was mostly going on unimportant tangents) most kids liked his lectures. They could do homework or doodle, and still take all the substantial notes necessary when only half-listening. However, everyone hated his subjective tests. How can an Italian Level 1 language test be subjective?

Professor Mc Mahonilli found ways.

In fact, it was quite easy and common for most students to get Cs or worse on their first of the two cultural essays...yes, a cultural essay, not a standard test on language. Oh, and your report had to be written five pages long, single-spaced, with Times New Roman font, 12 pt. And in fluent Italian.

Some students quickly rushed to drop the course after hearing by word of mouth about the professor's reputation for killing your GPA, but other unfortunate individuals learned the hard way.

Like Shannon Pearson.

But unlike many of the students who were half-heartedly listening to Professor McMahonilli colorfully swear in French as he struggled to pronounce a simple English word, Shannon really didn't care anymore.

She had stopped caring about anything, really, when her father died in a car accident over the summer, and when she finally had accepted that her best friends must be dead as well. She hadn't heard from them since May 23, and it was already fall. Either Amy died from wounds in the hospital and Jenni did, too, or they were murdered, or maybe captured by people who thought they had stolen stuff they didn't...

Shannon closed her eyes and sighed, returning back to the task of drawing Zack Fair's wild hair. It was a good way to relieve internal pain, art, and it was also her major. But she was still having trouble coping with losing three people she cared about, and had recently been to see her academic advisor about dropping one of her classes just so she could breathe more easily. Her grades were suffering alot from her emotional stress.

But lately, she also had been getting weird dreams. They were always hard to remember, but very disturbing at the time. At first, Shannon attributed it to her stress, but then she began remembering little pieces, and the same elements kept reoccurring. For certain, there was always lots of green, a feeling of joy, like the earth itself was singing...and then lots of sadness and all turned to ashes.

Shannon frowned, then stared back at Zack's picture. This leg needed work - it was too short. She erased very hard against the paper, then heard a voice whisper like bells in her ear.

"_It's time."_

"What?!" Shannon jolted, and glanced at the girl sitting next to her - but the cheerleader girl was busy passing notes to a buff guy in the row behind them, not looking in her direction at all. The guy on her left was snoring, so it obviously wasn't him, and the heavily-pierced punk behind her (who Shannon, unfortunately, still could not determine their gender, due to their extremely long green hair and baggy clothes) was texting on their cell phone.

Shannon nervously went back to drawing, but heard the female voice whisper again, _"Shannon, the Planet needs you."_

What the crap?

Again, Shannon looked around wildly, but no one was talking to her...but that voice was kinda familiar.

"_Silly, I'm not sitting next to you - I'm in the Lifestream. Your friends are in trouble."_

Okay, waaaay too much stress. Shannon promptly smacked her head with a thump onto the surface of her desk, causing the guy next to her to wake with a start.

"Wha? Wha?" He mumbled, then fell back asleep.

Shannon groaned from her desk top. Hearing voices talking about your dead friends in the afterlife. Great. _Just_ great.

She heard the voice sigh again, "_Rima Pearson, please listen to me, you must believe me when I say your friends are alive, but -"_

Shannon didn't notice that the voice called her by her middle name instead of her first, but was so overwhelmed she yelled out loud, "WILL YOU PLEASE STOP FUCKING TOTURING ME!?!?!"

Professor Mc Manhonilli immediately stopped rambling and slowly turned with bulging goldfish eyes to stare at the girl in the fifth row who just made an outburst.

"OooooOOOOhhh," jeered the obnoxious members of the class who found it hilarious that Shannon interrupted McMahonilli's lively and detailed narrative on the fascinating subject of exactly how the Italian dictator was gruesomely assassinated.

Shannon paled, standing up nervously in her seat to make her way towards the classroom exit, "I-I-I'm sorry, Professor, I just feel a little sick today, and I think I need to go to the bathroom," She really did feel like she was going to throw up...

Blech!

....

This was _**not**_ a good day.

* * *

I've been wandering around the streets of this foul city for hours now. I got kicked out of the apartment after I shot the TV...Actually, I had turned on the TV to watch the news, having no clue as what else to do, and saw me and Amelia on channel 45. Fighting each other. It made me so furious, I snatched up the small gun and fired a bullet into the center of the screen. Stupid, I know, but I think that my actions were understandable...besides, I had just figured out how to use the gun, and the clueless anchors on the screen who think they know it all were trying to analyze the situation and they were so off, it grated on my nerves.

The news did give me one hint, though: Shinra was actively searching for me and Amelia, and if I stayed in the hotel much longer, they'd probably capture me.

I was uneasy about leaving what little safety the room offered, however. Aimlessly plodding down the street as a very noticeable red and black target among normal people did not suit well on my nerves. And if Valentine didn't like me either, I may as well join the I-hate-everyone-club with Amelia.

Well, no. Not exactly. But it did sound a little appealing, after how many insults I heard on the news station.

It took Reno and Rude knocking on my door to make me finally desert the pathetic shelter.

Reno must have thought I was Vincent at first, because he saw my gauntlet arm first before I opened the door fully. After he realized I was not Vincent, he went very pale.

As much paler as a redhead can get, at least.

After staring at me in shock for way too long for my liking, and stammering apologies about how he knew something bad would happen and should have done something when he saw me go off to be an "assistant", he gravely informed me that Shinra had sent them and many others to search for me and bring me back.

Reno made it quite clear that he and Rude (and Elena) were against this, but that I still really needed to evacuate this building.

I remained as silent as Rude, past the point of accepting apologies or really being a sympathetic person anymore.

After waiting a long pause, I nodded, and closed the door a bit too loudly in his face, feeling no remorse in doing so.

Then I left via the window about five minutes later, with only a gun and a small snackbar (to pretend to myself that I still was human enough to need some food today). Although my fear of heights was extreme, I managed to convince myslef that I need to conquer this if I'm going to survive.

Besides, whoever heard of a demon who can fly that is scared of heights?

And I keep walking around, it seems, in circles, and have no idea where to go or what to do.

The song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" begins playing softly in my head. Music has always been something I can rely on to dissolve pain. I begin to softly hum the words under my breath, and ignore frightened stares of civilians when they see my red eyes and blood-stained clothes.

Somehow, I end up pacing back and forth in front of some bar. It's about 8:30, and my eyes must glow in the dark, because whenever some drunk comes out, they stare in the blackness and then freak out, and run off somewhere else. Most people must not be able to see right now, then, and I just don't notice that it's completely pitch black now because I have night vision.

After an hour of indecision, I decide to enter the bar. I've never had alcohol before, but tonight there is so much I want to forget, it would be amazing bliss to lose myself in wine or something right now.

Fuck.

This is Seventh Heaven.

* * *

By nearly sunset, Amelia had soared for miles and miles, and left Nibelheim far behind. Her ebony wing suffered with exhaustion from overuse, but she didn't care anymore.

A peaceful herd of wild chocobo loomed ahead on the desert ground below.

Amelia frowned. No creature could exist in happiness while she was twisted in turmoil.

She heaved her blade from its case and dived like a hawk on the unsuspecting beasts, and the small panicking group was soon a lifeless pile of bloody Chocobo meat.

With a sigh of satisfaction, Amelia wiped the blade clean against the side of her pants. Then she plucked the small single Rezkon materia from her poket and stared at it. Unbidden memories of the day's events pounded against her skull, and she began to quietly cry in despair, staring at the fiery sky.

She was a failure.

Although she felt like a failure to both Mother, Jennifer, and herself, Jenova quickly took advantage of the emotionally worn woman and whispered cunningly, "My child...you may not have retrieved both of the materia for me, but you have enough to complete the task for now."

Amelia stopped crying, and listened hopefully to Mother, wishing only to redeem herself and no longer be a failure...the idea of failing anyone else, including and especially humanity, overridden by Jenova's charm.

After listening to Mother's instructions with complete attention, Amelia tenderly picked up the Rezkon shard with both hands. She didn't quite understand what Mother meant, but she absorbed the materia into her skin anyways, and began focusing all of her mental strength on it.

Closing her eyes, she could see a web of green strands in the midst of blackness. In her mind, she walked towards different strands, and tested them with her arm, tugging lightly to feel their solidity. The green strands would glow if she was supposed to follow their intricacies, and rip if not. She eventually found her way to a small black form in the center of a huge mass of green webbing.

Although she was seeing herself in a completely different world, her body remained in the desert, her brow was furrowed in concentration, and she was beginning to glow emerald.

She began trembling uncontrollably, and the emerald glow became like a fire, though it did not burn her. As she struggled more and more, in some world she could only see, a black mist began swirling two feet in front of her, slowly creating a form.

With a final convulsion, Amelia fell to her knees and choked for breath, holding her chest with one hand, the emerald fire immediately ceasing to exist.

Her vision was fading to black, and the small shard dropped from her shivering sweaty, palm.

She heard someone's footsteps approach her as she collapsed to the dusty soil.

Amelia wearily struggled to keep her eyes open, and got a glimpse of silver hair and stern glistening Mako eyes, which were shrouded in surprise and confusion.

"Sephiroth?" Amelia whispered weakly, then smiled before fainting with exhaustion.

* * *

A/N:Thanks to everybody who's been leaving reviews!!! YAY!! ^^

**cyberelf:** *gives her a Sephiroth plushie* Yay! I'm glad you love it! Yes, I try to make sure I develop everyone's characters alot and mix cute ice cream with evilness. Bwhahahaha.

**freakyfan3754:** *gives Zack plushie* ^___^ Whee!! Yes Shannon is definitely gonna be in this story alot more now =D Waaah, I want Vinnie to hug me!!! lol

**Beevo:** *gives chocolate shake* I'm glad you like it! I hope this chapter answers your questions, and we will meet other character soon! :D

**reedzeh:** *gives pikachu* ^^ Yeah, I wanted to make sure that nobody was OOC or Mary Sue's cuz that's just painful to read through X_X

**kitsunkuruoshii:** *gives chocolate cookie* Your wish is my command! :)


	8. Fitting in our New Lives

Hey guys! I have returned!!!! Yay!

377 hits!!! XD YAY!!!! And it appears that Mr Wise Sage guy is missing?!?!?!

Genesis: smiles evilly and walks out, reading from Loveless Act II and holding his purple fruit...

Amelia: SHUT UP ALREADY!!!!! AAAARRRGGGGHHH!!!!! *chases him off with Harbinger*

Seph: *applauds, grinning*

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Music for inspiration:

Shannon - When September Ends by Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Amelia - Angel by Within Temptation (just because Sephy is an evil fallen angel kinda guy XD)

Jenni - Move Along by All-American Rejects

Just to let you guys know, the songs here will usually match the story, but not all of the time. Sometimes they just sort of fit and were partly just what helped me get the mood right for the scene. I also apologize for updating less often - life's been kinda busy ^^, but please enjoy!

* * *

Breathlessly, Shannon raced back to her dorm room, forgetting completely about eating dinner at the dining hall, and threw her bag of books onto the floor, slamming the door behind her quickly, and collapsing onto her bed in a heap. She felt pretty nauseous still, and as she had been running, her head began pounding like crazy, and she was filled with some huge overwhelming sorrow. Visions of something resembling a shooting star crashing to the earth flashed before her eyes, and she wondered for a moment if she was losing her mind. The girl lifted her tear-stained face, and stared at her shaking hands, wondering with awe why she was acting so strangely - she should be over her friends' deaths by now, not freaking out still in class, hallucinating like this, and puking on random people.

Shannon wiped her face with one long-sleeved purple sweater arm, and dug in her purse for her cell phone.

Mom would make her feel better.

Riiiing, riiiing. Riiiing, riiiing.

An older woman's voice answered with a sigh, "_Hello, Pearson residence, this is Molly speaking, may I help you?"_

"Hey Mom," smiled Shannon, and immediately her mom spoke more cheerfully and asked her about her day.

Shannon sighed, "Well, there's something I wanted to ask you about..."

_"...Oh?"_ Her mother's tone was strange, like she knew exactly what Shannon was going to ask and didn't really want to talk about it.

Shannon took a deep breath, "I've been getting lots of strange dreams lately, and I- I kinda freaked out in class today."

Silence for a moment on the other end of the line, then, "_What kind of dreams, honey?"_

"That's just it - its not just dreams, I've been hearing voices in my head now, too!" Shannon's voice rose higher in exasperation, "I think I'm losing my mind, 'cause I keep hearing Aerith- you know from Final Fantasy seven? Or some voice like that...talking about Amelia and Jenni -" Shannon cracked here and was afraid to talk for a moment in case she started bawling again - she didn't want to be overheard by her hall neighbors.

Mrs. Pearson sighed, _"Honey...I can't keep it a secret from you any more. Your father..."_ she paused, collecting herself so she wouldn't break down on the phone either, thinking about her husband's death, _"He was a..."_ her mother fumbled hesitantly over the word, _"...a Cetra."_

Silence.

Shannon wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, because her mother wouldn't joke like that...but she couldn't believe that Mom even knew what a Cetra was, much less believe her father was one.

"I...I don't understand, Mum."

A sigh from the other end. _"Hon...we were going to keep it a surprise until your 21st birthday, your father and I, but after the accident...I just couldn't bring myself to tell you on my own. It wasn't my field of expertise, anyway,"_ she gave a small laugh half-heartedly, _"I mean, seriously, can you really picture me doing gardening stuff?_"

The image of her business-woman mother getting her hands and knees in mud, wearing a dirt-covered apron and an 18th century style bonnet with flowers all around her caused Shannon to snort with laughter despite herself.

"So...are you really serious, Mom?" Shannon asked with confusion, as soon as she got over her giggle.

"_Why don't you come over today, since home isn't too far from campus? I'll show you what I should have ages ago...He had some old book for you to read, and some small package, too."_

"Okay, I'll be over in about 15 minutes!" Shannon grinned energetically, still unsure whether Mom was just pulling her leg to make her smile, or if it was possible that maybe she really was telling the truth. Either way, presents were involved! Yay!

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

At about 11:00 that night, Shannon was hunched over on her dorm room bed by a small lamp, dedicatedly pouring over a very large, red, ancient-looking text with strange runic symbols and tattered pages. Her mother had stared at her strangely when Shannon had first started flipping through the pages at the house, and with astonishment, asked,"You can _read_ that junk?"

"What, you can't?"

Shannon had never seen these symbols before in her life, and had no idea how she could possibly read this book, but somehow, the words just became English in her mind as her eyes gleaned over the hieroglyphic characters.

The excited girl read the dusty manuscript for several hours, eagerly absorbing anything she could about the ways of the Cetra. Before she fell asleep on the book, her eyes suffering from exhaustion due to the tiny print, she could've sworn she heard someone giggle in her ear, "_I'm glad you finally believe me...Rima..."_

While Shannon dozed peacefully on her dark purple comforter, still in her day clothes (except the tan suede boots she had kicked off somewhere over the edge of the bed around 9:45), with the TV Channel 9 Fox News still on from when she forgot to turn off South Park earlier.

"Here at Fox News we present you with the latest news update on world events, local media networks, and our current weather analysis. In following our latest inbreaking news bulletin on the Mexico conflict, it appears that a violent outbreak has disrupted the nation's capital as citizens protest the inauguration of President Ferdenande, who replaced the old leader Felipe Calderon...lack of infrasturucture, increase in crime....corruption...hundreds of illegal immigrants crossing border of U.S. daily now that the Mexican currency has all but evaporated in our current economic crisis...Mexico's new President Ferdenande and President Barack Obama exchanged heated phone press conferences yesterday...This morning, a group of about 2,000 Mexican immigrant rebels crossed the Mexican-Texan border and opened fire on security guards at the border fence...Russian nuclear weapons detected by CIA in Mexican territory pointed at U.S. this afternoon...A Russian ambassador...China remaining neutral for now, but hinting that Mexicans have right to Texan territory...Texan citizens outraged at lack of national response to the fury crossing into their home state...

Barack Obama spoke earlier this morning in a message directed to Americans, 'We will not let this attack go unacknowledged. This is a direct attack on the American dream and peace of unity...This is more important than any Middle East oil drill...because American blood has been shed...'

The European Union has also claimed to remain neutral, but will reluctantly assist the U.S. if this skyrockets into anything past just Mexico...if Russia makes any advances, the EU will intervene...

America, could this be World War III???

In other news today, a strange UFO has been sighted by astrologists at NASA heading straight for the middle of South America, just East of the Andes Moutain Range, but is moving too quickly to be defined..."

...Shannon snored peacefully through all of the weird weather updates that followed just as easily as the chaotic new bulletins about international conflicts and meteor sightings...

* * *

Sephiroth stared with curiosity and surprise at the strange woman at his feet. His first instinct had been to kill whatever creature was nearest him, but his senses told him that she...had the power of Mother flowing through her, which meant she was an Ancient like he. And the silver-haired girl had smiled with such a serene expression when she saw him...not dashed away, screaming for her life. And...she had an ebony wing? Like him? And...

_...why the hell was she dressed like him?_

She was wearing a long black, leather trenchcoat and tall, black combat boots. A slender sword was strapped to her back by two leather straps that criss-crossed across her chest, which for a moment Sephiroth thought was shirtless - ah, she was wearing a skin colored tanktop. A small smirk formed on his mouth. Then became a frown.

"Mother, who is this woman?" he murmured aloud, his emerald eyes glowing in the dusk night.

He could have sworn Mother chuckled, and his frown deepened. "_My son...she retrieved your body from the Lifestream, using a part of the Rezkon materia."_

Sephiroth wasn't quite satisfied with the answer, but had a feeling Mother would not communicate much more information. Then with his keen eyesight he noticed a small drop of dark blood trickling off of the single black wing's feathers. Quickly, Sephiroth knelt down beside the girl with concern to inspect her wound - there were four claw-like marks running through her wing and part of her back, right through the leather coat to the flesh. Sephiroth was going to investigate his pocket for a Cure materia, probably because of a habit from his old SOLDIER training when caring for wounded lower ranked members, but immediately halted. The ex-general was surprised slightly at his actions...since when did he care about the life of another? Was he behaving like a weak human?

Sephiroth stared at the girl in front of him, reasoning that his behavior was instinctual SOLDIER training - she was on his side, of his blood, retrieved him from the Lifestream's clutches, and was thus aiding him in his goal of purging Gaia and reaching the Promised Land.

Besides, if the Ancient girl admired him and was loyal, she would be the perfect mate. They were both the last Cetras, should they not bring their race back from extinction?

Her flowing silver locks, normally covering her ears, revealed a small black earring shaped like a wing, and she appeared almost angelic in slumber, despite her tattered and bloody apparel.

Sephiroth stood up abruptly when the girl stirred for a moment in sleep, then decided she was not seriously injured enough to be disturbed at the moment. Sephiroth nodded slightly, and began to scout the area while she slept; he would allow her to regain health and strength for the journey ahead before he interrogated her intentions as a precaution in the morning.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Amelia woke up with a groan to the searing desert sun blinding her eyes, and the aching in her back reminded her of her fight yesterday. Her body was completely exhausted from the combination of the duel with Chaos and the flight afterwards straining her wounded wing. She stretched her ebony feathered-muscles with a yawn, cringing when she ripped a newly formed scab in the process. Amelia stared dully ahead as she slowly became more awake, then tried to sit herself up by pushing against the ground with both hands -

_OW._

She quickly removed her left hand from the ground as a sudden jolt of pain coursed through her palm and inspected it for damage.

_Holy shit._

There was a weird black marking covering the lower half of the palm of her left hand - sort of reminding her of Geostigma? And she heard strange whisperings in her ear that filled her with fear, flashes of blue-green -

She gasped with fright more than pain, clutching her hand, and the sensations abruptly ceased.

With bewilderment, she oggled her hand for a moment more, before the glint of sunlight on the surface of a piece of metal in the ground caught her eye.

_Oh! The Rezkon materia! That means...wait, where's Sephiroth?_

Amelia jumped to her feet with worry - she had no idea why, but she yelled out, "SEPHIROTH?!"

...Only to almost bump into him.

Oops.

Oh gawd, her head almost collided with his extremely sexy bare chest.

Amelia immediately reeled backwards, her face beet red with embarrassment, and Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at her. There was an extremely long and uncomfortable silence...at least for Amelia, who was feeling very shy even though she was ecstatic to even be in her idol's presence.

"Who are you?" Sephiroth questioned her evenly.

Amelia hesitated, then smiled awkwardly at the ex-general, "Amelia Halls."

Sephiroth looked her up and down with a scrutinizing stare, and Amelia fidgeted a little under his gaze, wondering what was going through his head.

"Um," Amelia started, wanting to make a good impression on him but completely unsure of what to say - but Sephiroth lifted his hand abruptly for silence, gazing beyond her. Amelia felt the ground being rumbling underneath her feet, like something was moving below it.

Amelia whipped around, and gasped with fright as a deformed desert serpent emerged with a roar from the surface, sending clouds of eye-blinding dust everywhere.

After a coughing spell and half of the dust cloud dissipating, Amelia got a better look at the thing, and wished she hadn't.

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

The sand-colored beast, standing at a height of at least 10 times Sephiroth, from Amelia's quick guestimation, and had three savage heads, which were each snapping and spitting at the air in different intervals. And instead of a rattlesnake tail, a scorpion stinger longer than Amelia was tall extended into the atmosphere above its giant, winding coils.

After a moment of staring at it with disbelief and one eye twitching, Amelia shrieked,"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!?!?!"

Sephiroth lazily drew his Masamune halfway with one leathered glove, then stopped, glanced at Amelia, and replaced the sword back in its scabbard.

"If you have sufficient combat skills, you should be be able to dispatch of this nuisance on your own," Sephiroth spoke calmly as if they were chatting about who was going to smack an annoying mosquito with a flyswatter in arms' reach.

Of course, Amelia gaped at him like he was crazy at first, then clamped her mouth shut and faced the hissing serpent with a gulp. If she was going to earn Sephiroth's trust, she would have to prove she could follow orders and fight efficiently in battle.

The closest head opened its cavernous mouth and screeched down at her, spraying venomous spit as it did. Amelia scrunched up her face in disgust, running quickly to dodge the poison rain as she did so, and swiftly wrenched her sword from her back.

Amelia flapped her wings carefully - they were still tender - then launched off the ground like lightning just in time, head number one chomping only on the ground's dust instead of its target. It seethed with fury, and the other two heads joined the first with interest in the snack for themselves, even though they all shared the same stomach. Amelia's wing was giving her a lot of trouble, though - it was a struggle for the overused appendage to keep fluttering her steady, much less get her where she needed to in order to slice a head off. As her sword's edge grazed head number one, causing it to squeal in agony and recoil backwards, head number two gnashed its fangs much too close to her arm for comfort. Amelia's wing desperately geared in reverse, but then she came green eye to orange eye with head number three. Amelia hopelessly stole a glance at Sephiroth for help, but he watched her intently and continued to polish Masamune on one knee, still seeming to think she could handle the thing on her own.

Amelia blindly slashed at the nearest skull with as much force as she could muster, and grimaced as snake blood splattered all over her. A loud thud followed soon after, and Amelia realized with relief she had decapitated head number three. Head number one twisted about number two in a wild attempt to swallow her whole, and Amelia avoided the strike with grace -

And then had the wind knocked out of her as she was pinned to the ground by the giant scorpion tail she had forgotten about. She noticed Sephiroth leap to his feet - ah, that must mean she's screwed. Sure enough, the two heads were each turning to find her, extending forked tongues, and the scorpion tail was descending once more, aiming straight for her abdomen.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Amelia weakly clutched the spot on her right side where the scorpion's venom had made its first stab, and braced herself for the fatal impact as the point of the tail dove closer over two seconds- but the deadly blow never came.

Amelia blinked her eyes open and gazed with awe as Sephiroth expertly diced the serpent with Masamune, removing the tail and then both of the remaining heads with ease.

Sephiroth shook his head in annoyance at the blood on Masamune, and then swiftly landed at Amelia's side, inspecting her damage. "I-I'm fine, really!" protested Amelia in vain, but Sephiroth pulled out a Cure 2 Materia anyways and fixed her with a stern expression.

"Don't be foolish. Your strength will be necessary for the journey...And you obviously lack experience and will require further combat training." The ex-general lifted up a couple of antidotes to the sunlight, squinting at each one before nodding at his final decision of the correct choice for this type of poison.

Amelia was blushing in shame, feeling like a complete idiot and failure; but jumped with a start of surprise when she felt his gloved fingertips brush her shoulder. "So...you are a Cetra as well?" Sephiroth tilted his head, a strange smile flitting across his features.

Amelia blushed for another reason.

"Uh, yes," she smiled back at the One-Winged Angel, who nodded and pulled the cork off of the antidote bottle, pouring some of its contents onto a small cloth.

"This will sting some," he murmured, and Amelia felt warm flutters across her skin as his ungloved left hand wiped the cloth on her scorpion wound.

Amelia really didn't mind scorpions anymore.

A little while later, Sephiroth had decided, despite Amelia's half-hearted protests, that she was too weak to continue walking, much less fly.

With a small squeak of alarm, Amelia was swooped up in Sephiroth's arms against his chest with one graceful motion, and the silver duo flew into the sky. At first, Amelia was overwhelmed with giddyness so that she was shrieking in her head - OH MY GOD!!!!! SEPHIROTH IS HOLDING ME!?!?!?!!! SEXY SEPHY!!! AHHHH!

And it probably was written all over her face, seeing as how Sephiroth was grinning down at her smugly when she looked back into his emerald eyes.

Then she noticed his eyes darken slightly."What creature inflicted that wound on your wing?" His voice had darkened and become dangerous, as though whatever had done the deed was already doomed to suffer a much worse fate.

Amelia's blissful expression clouded, "An old friend...one I used to trust."

Sephiroth nodded solemnly, an introspective look in his eyes as though remembering something similar, "I...understand."

Jenova whispered in Sephiroth's mind, "_She still retains pity for the creature that gave her that - it also still possesses the Rezkon materia half you will need...you will have to sever those ties to completely gain this girl's loyalty, my son."_

Sephiroth didn't answer, but agreed completely.

Amelia was staring at Masamune with wonder and without fear, prompting Sephiroth to ask with curiousity, "What is the name of your weapon?"

Amelia grinned, and replied, "Harbinger."

She had named it Harbinger, because that was another word for herald, something that goes ahead and makes known the approach of another. In order for an enemy to get her, they'd have to get past her sword first. She also remembered Jenova being referred to as Heaven's Dark Harbinger.

A short while later, probably due to over-exertion, Amelia was struggling to not drift off to sleep in the swordsman's gentle but firm grip, the breeze caressing her face gently.

Sephiroth murmured, "At a more suitable time, I will teach you to wield Harbinger more effectively...Amelia..."

The One-Winged Angel glanced up at the sun's position, then increased his speed, and the duo headed for the snowy mountains. Sephiroth knew the monsters in that area were just above her level of experience, and that it would be necessary for her to practice her skills there before she joined him to retrieve the other half of the materia, while he destroyed the idiot delivery boy.

Sephiroth grinned sadistically, his Mako eyes gleaming as he plotted his revenge against Cloud.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Jenova was pleased that at least Sephiroth wasn't going for a goody-tooshoes Aeris type, like he almost had before, but still was not completely satisfied with Amelia. Amelia could turn out to be a distraction - a hindrance to her plans, instead of an aid, if things turned out wrong.

Of course, Sephiroth didn't know yet about that disease the Planet had inflicted on Amelia for sending Sephiroth out of its prison in the Lifestream. If Amelia was successful in retrieving the other half of the Rezkon materia, she would be spared from sickness, and aid Jenova simultaneously. If she failed, well, her life was expendable to Jenova. Sephiroth could do it on his own. Although, Amelia could prove to be useful, so Jenova remained silent for now.

* * *

_Well...here goes nothing..._

I hesitantly entered Seventh Heaven, halfway expecting every member of Avalanche to jump me at once and dice me or shoot me with their various weapons, since Vincent had been following me earlier today.

I cringed as the door squeaked open loudly, but no one seemed to notice my entrance; all of the inhabitants of the bar were either too deeply immersed in half sober conversations, their drinks, or vomiting.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Well, I knew that alcohol was nothing glamorous, but I hadn't expected the wave of vomit to hit my nostrils immediately. It was absolutely nauseating - perhaps it was just me, since I only saw two middle aged men having issues containing their liquor on the far other side of the room.

Damn super enhanced senses.

Yuch...well, at least everyone didn't look up immediately and shriek about my metal monster arm or scary eyes...

Every time I pass by a mirror or other reflective surface, I still freak out at my own reflection. I'm trying to equate it to getting a haircut - you know, when you shower you feel for that hair to shampoo that suddenly is no longer there? And when you look in the mirror, are momentarily surprised for the first few days, because you've been keeping this mental image in your head of someone else, not the person who is staring back at you with shock.

Well, eyes are a little bit more different. Eyes define a person, are the windows to the soul, I've heard. Does that mean that I'm someone else now? That I'm as satanic as my iris color? That's a foolish conception, but I have always been a little superstitious, so I avert my eyes when Tifa Lockheart glances in my direction, and surreptitiously hide my left arm slightly behind my back.

Huh. Maybe I should get a coat with nice, deep pockets to hide this thing in. Like my old one at home. I sit with a sigh at one bench near the door, farthest from most of the crowd, and stare into space blankly.

Amelia is pretty far gone at this point, if she tried to kill me, but there must be someway to stop her from going completely insane before she resurrects Sephiroth, right? But if not...what can I do?

As my brain cloudens with misery, and the desire for normalcy, and to wake up from this nightmare, my thoughts return to anger at the scientist who messed up everything. I close my eyes and briefly imagine the wooden bench underneath me is a stool in front of a dissecting table, not a table in a bar. Mercury-filled light bulbs envelop the area mercilessly with the intensity and coldness felt in the medical facilities, the walls are white and plain. Amelia is there, and a pale, slender hand is reaching towards her with a sharp tool of some sort, a high pitch cackle...I frown in anger and I am replaced on the table, asleep in oblivion. Hojo laughs with amusement, and switches to a weird syringe. Shit, that's not good either... The owner of the hand cackles and I furiously begin wishing I had the power to _**rip that cackle right out of his throat**_...

I feel a dark presence stir in the back of my mind; Chaos seems intrigued by this new and only source of unbounded hatred I possess - shit, I realize that I am starting to head down a very dangerous path in my thought process.

I'm frightened out of my reverie by the sudden shattering of glass near the counter on the other side of the room. "Yuffie! Come on, you're making a mess in the kitchen, hon! Why don't you just go watch Marlene and Denzel upstairs?"

"No way, Tifa! Those kids are so annoying!"

I quickly tune them out, despite my curiosity about my favorite female characters from the Avalanche group...the only ones...because I notice that my claws have become deeply embedded in the wood of the bench. Hastily, I rip my sharp metal fingers from the seat, and glance around wildly to see if anyone saw me damage the furniture. My eyes narrow. I am acting so...strange lately. What happened to being the kind person who danced around with friends and acted silly? Now...I keep getting images of torture, flames, and memories from...ugh...slaughtering Shin-Ra soldiers...

It's all that fucking scientist's fault. He's ruined so many lives...the only way that his actions could ever be cleansed would be through death, and even that would not be satisfying. I heard Amelia screaming in agony before, at the hospital, and I still blame myself for not running in there to save her when I could have. I can only imagine what he did to her... something about inflicting more wounds constantly on her body to measure the recovery process's gradual increase was mentioned in that dreaded notebook. I smirk, contemplating the idea of a crazy Amelia chasing Hojo with her sword.

Damn it, Jenni, get your mind out of the blood gutter. Ugh...

Maybe I don't belong here anymore. I glance around the room of drunk but otherwise normal people, and begin to envy their stupid normalcy. So much for getting a drink...I don't know if I can stand to face Tifa or the rest of them. If Vincent hadn't been chasing me earlier, I might have considered staying, just to talk to him for advice or something, as sad as that sounds. But AVALANCHE had no reason to want me in their group...I shouldn't butt into their lives.

I guess I need some fresh air.

As I head outside, a little girl about seven or so darts past me through the door, sniffling.

_What in the world is a kid doing in a bar? And why is she upset?_

Concerned, I follow after the girl, all of my dark thoughts expelled, replaced with only an earnest desire to make her happy - kids have that effect on me. She runs over to a little corner near the edge of the building in a shadow.

Hmm. I don't want to scare her...

"Uh, hey?" The brown haired girl looks up at me with wide eyes and tears all down her face. She's wearing a big red ribbon in her hair. Oh. I think that might be Marlene.

"You alright?" I ask with a quiet and gentle voice, kneeling down slowly by her, and she doesn't seem to notice my red eyes.

Wait. Scratch that. She just noticed them, but _isn't_ frightened? Oh right, she's probably used to seeing Vincent's.

"Oh," she sniffs, brightening, as though she knows me or something, "hello."

I smile lopsided at her. This poor kid has probably been through way too much for her age. Forget seeing drunkies do stupid shit - being the one who knew Sephiroth had come back through some scary vision-dream, and just plain living with AVALANCHE automatically will do that.

I'm not really sure what to say to make her feel better, because I know that one of the biggest rules for children is to not talk to strangers. I open my mouth for a moment, then look away nervously. This is, I realize, the first time someone has looked at me like I'm - for lack of a better term - human - since before I became infused with Chaos. Although I meant to come and give this child encouragement, I end up wishing she could give some to me.

She smiles at me broadly, and her little hand touches my metal claw arm. I jerk back instinctively with a gasp from the contact, even though at the moment I would like nothing more than a hug from another human being.

Marlene whispers sweetly, tilting her head to the side, "Are you Vincent's sister?"

For the first time in a while, I chuckle lightly with amusement. "No," I answer with a small smile, but I'm unable to finish my sentence - the words die in my throat when I hear some hesitative movement around the other side of building.

Kind of like someone sneaking around who doesn't want to get caught.

Damn, am I getting paranoid now, too? ARRGH!

Marlene didn't pay any attention to the sound if she heard it, but didn't miss my expression jump from pleasant to agitated.

"What is it, Jenni?" She asked me with worry in her child's voice.

"...Nothing," I mutter after a small pause, and scanning the area with my enhanced vision and hearing.

Wait a second. I whirl on her with shock. "How do you know my name?"

Marlene stood up, and walked aways from me with a small skip to her step along the cobblestone, slightly more into the light from the doorway, before pausing to turn and reply matter-of-factly,"Aerith told me," with cheer.

Standing slowly, with one clawed hand on my hip, the other scratching my head, I wondered how she stayed so cheerful all the time. A "big sister" she lost talking to her in her head?

Before I could ask Marlene what Aerith said, or why she had been crying, since I never got a real answer, I tensed with fear at a sharp crack.

"Marlene!" I shouted in warning, but she looked up too late, and some forms from the shadows leaped out of nowhere to seize her. Perhaps they had been reluctant to snatch her when she was sitting right next to me, but they had jumped her as soon as she had wandered 10 yards from me and the main lighting.

_**Why **_hadn't I paid attention to that noise?

I think they're Shin-Ra guards, judging by their movements and what I can make out of the uniform.

"Come on, let's grab the kid and go," one guy grumbled hurriedly, as Marlene began to scream in panic, though it would be hard for anyone inside to hear her, much less Tifa, if she was all the way back in the kitchen on her own since Yuffie wasn't helping her. Damn it, Yuffie, why couldn't you have been watching the kids!?!

"No, the Boss wanted _her_, too," murmurs a gruff voiced guy with authority, jerking his thumb at me.

Oh god, I am afraid of guns, knives...anything these guys have weapon-wise. And, whether they deserve life or not, I am scared of turning into a demon. Chaos has been hanging around a little too closely ever since my evil daydreaming earlier, and the demon sends me an image of itself licking it's carnivore fangs in greed. No, no, no, not the red flames again...NO! I won't kill! I WON'T!

While I spend these couple of precious seconds in internal turmoil, starting to clutch my chest with painful effort to stave off the demon's control, the guards are mumbling to themselves nervously and obviously are not in any rush to fight me.

"J-Jenni?!" Marlene whimpered, caught in a tight and probably not comfortable embrace by the leader of the the three Shin-Ra guys.

My red irises lock with the frightened, innocent brown ones of Marlene, and any tiny ideas about getting help elsewhere and fleeing myself that may have existed in my mind were vanquished.

I was not going to let anyone else's lives become ruined because of me, especially a defenseless little girl.

"**_Let the child go_**," I growl in a dangerously low voice, and even though I don't remember pulling out my black gun, it is aimed directly at the leader of the group.

Marlene blinked with surprise at me - damn, the demon must be starting to obtain more hold over me. I've gotta get the kid out of here before I go berserk and do something I will regret.

Simultaneously, each guard snapped to attention and whipped out their weapons, two charging at me. Oh fuck, the leader guy has a lightning rod thingy like Reno's...I've had enough of electricity for one day, thank you very much. First, I better get the guy with the big rifle, though.

I somehow dodge the third guy's blaster shots, and shoot another human being for the first time in my life with a gun.

My arms shook with the repercussion of the painfully loud bang after the trigger was pulled. Blaster guy crumples in a very unnatural way to fall on his face, and I hope with all my heart that he did not die. I felt slightly relieved that I had one guy less to deal with, but horrified that I had actually been able to do it. I comfort myself with the thought that the action was completely necessary to save the innocent, and that I should ignore any protests that my conscience was throwing at me at just deal with moral consequences at a more convenient time.

Rifle guy shoots me in my already wounded left shoulder from this afternoon, thanks to Amelia, and with inhuman grace I flip away from him backwards, somehow avoiding the knife that the guy who was dragging Marlene threw at me.

I barely have time to register that I just performed a BACKFLIP?!?!?! not of my own will, when I have never even been able to do so much as a cartwheel in my life, when I notice that the wound in my leg has healed alot - I actually had forgotten about it, to be honest. I should be trying to take this like I am cool superhero with superpowers, but instead I am becoming more sickened at myself for being like a monster. Partly because the further I go into this battle, dodging the knife-thrower and rifle shots, the more I am slowly allowing Chaos to possess my body, because I have no idea how to fight at all.

I point my black gun, breathing heavily, at the guy holding Marlene, praying Chaos knows what she's doing, and not quite sure sometimes if _**I **_am speaking or a combination of me and Chaos. "**_I won't ask you again. Drop the girl, now_**."

Tendrils of electricity envelop my entire body, crackling blue light everywhere as I scream in agony.

Fuck, I should have seen that coming. Anybody who thinks its fun to torture others with lightning zaps should go to hell. Chaos seems to agree.

It appears as though Marlene was forgotten momentarily in the scuffle, as I can just make her out through the blinding blue running to the bar door. How the hell hasn't anyone heard this racket outside is beyond me.

These guys are driving me beyond my limit - alright Chaos, I give up. Just don't make me watch please...

An insidious chuckle draws a shiver up my spine, even as I'm being electrocuted and thus fried at a bazillion degrees Farenheit, "_I've been looking forward to finally unleashing my powers, and I am quite aware of your desire for vengeance. Don't think I won't allow you to witness my glory, vessel; you lack pitifully in skill and would do well to gain some insight._"

Gulp.

Okay, until this point, I kinda thought of Chaos like an extra super weapon you unleash at the last second to save the day if everything else fails, and not as a separate entity who was trapped for ages in hell, or wherever this thing came from, who wants to go bloodthirsty killing everything as justification for it having been stuck in imprisonment.

Unfortunately, I have about as much conscious control at this point as one does when they are nodding off about to be asleep, so I beg this crazy thing_,"...please, just leave the kid alone, okay?"_

Chaos turns my head with interest at this new target - oh, god, Marlene is frozen at the door to the bar looking at my yellow orbs like a deer in the headlights. Fucking Jesus Christ, kid! Get in the damn bar! Be safe!!!!

Luckily for the safety of all present, except maybe me, and to the dismay of the finally unleashed Chaos, leader dude just shot me with one of those annoying sleep darts, like the kind that Hojo had used on me before my experiment ages ago.

As everything fades away, and Chaos is screaming in frustration in my head about a wasted opportunity for all sorts of decapitation and limb ripping activities, I croak to Marlene, "Go...get...Tifa..."

And I hope she does.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys, long time no see ^^. I apologize for not typing all of the chapter here, there was going to be more but i didnt have time to get to a part that i could stop at, so this is what we have for now.

Spoilers!!!!:

Next chapter we meet tifa and yuffie and vincent, maybe cloud, maybe zack. Shannon/"Rima" will enter the FF7 world and learn more about Cetra stuff, and there will definitely be more Amelia x Sephiroth progression (Sephilia? Ameroth? XD)

Oh, and Sephy will be getting Amy a surprise :3

W00t. Probably won't update for two weeks tho, so hope this nearly if not past 7000 chapter ties you guys over for a while XD Oh and if anyone's wondering why we have so much Jenni emo thought in this chapter, we will definitely be getting more action and plot and less emo thinking from this point, with maybe next chapter as an exception for a portion of it, but i had just wanted to develop jenni's complicated character here b/c if we just told this chapter from an outsiders POV she didnt seem to do much this chap besides sit in a bar and walk outside it for five minutes XD

kk, see you guys soon! And dont forget to review! I take a long time to type so you guys can enjoy this XDDD


	9. A General's Wisdom and the Flight

A/N:*pants* hey guys! Im so psyched that i have so many views!!! I guess you all love me! ^_^ heehee

So now we finally get to the part you all have been waiting for - getting to meet AVALANCHE!!! YAY!

Seph: hehe, do I get to snog Amelia yet? *devilish grin*

Amy: *^_^* blushes

Me: 0.o" Now hold your horses you too - no, wait! Stop! you're not supposed to be kissing yet!!!

Both: *glare*

Me: Er, never mind...ah screw it...Hey Vinny!!!

*scrambles off to go find him*

Genesis, under sword point by Zackie: *sweatdrop* fine, Ill stop reading Loveless, alright? This weirdo author who hasnt included me in her story doesnt own anything except her puny brain and a few OCs.

Shannon: *hugs Zackie*

Zack: *steals Genesis's fruit thing* Here, Shannon. :D

Genesis: NUUUU!!!!! MY FRUIT!!!!! THE GIFT OF THE GODDESS!

Shannon: *eats it*

Genesis: *sobs*

Me: (to zack and shannon) STOP!!! NUUU! YOU GUYS ARENT SUPPOSED TO EVEN SEE EACH OTHER YET!!! AAAHHH!! *mumbles* guess i better add them in this chapter at least speaking to each other or something....

Vincent: ...

Me: Oh hey Vinny! *^^*

* * *

Cloud/Tifa - All I Ever Wanted (pretty tune ;D)

Seph/Amelia - Cursum Perficio by Enya (played over and over and over... now one of my most favorite songs!)

Shannon - Sandstorm by Daruke (this one also makes the top ten list :D)

* * *

Tifa was extremely bored. It was yet another boring day in Seventh Heaven, and the TV repairman had not come in yet, so not only were the kids stir-crazy, the customers were fewer. Tifa polished the already clean counter top for the fourth time in the past fifteen minutes out of necessity to be actively doing something, anything, and distracting herself from worrying about Cloud. Only about a month or so after the day Cloud had defeated Sephiroth and the Remnants, had he slowly become accepting that Aerith's death so long ago was not his fault, and becoming just a little bit less distant. Tifa smiled sadly at the shiny and soaking counter, wondering if Cloud would ever notice and return her feelings for him completely, or just keep being an emo delivery boy and blaming everything from the past on himself. And if she would be able to convince him to just stay for a week at least at the bar, instead of traveling aimlessly on Fenrir through the deserts after deliveries.

Tifa leaned her arms over the side of the counter, her head resting on her hand. Cloud had been acting a bit more mysterious as of late, a bit more open, but like he was hiding something. She smiled to herself, the memory from about two weeks ago replaying in her mind:

_It was late evening when Cloud entered the doorway, appearing exhausted and ready for rest, but the fatigue did not reach his sky blue eyes, which were shining anew with some unexplainable brightness. The blonde-haired hero attempted unsuccessfully to enter without being caught, but Tifa spotted him from the stairwell when she heard the fridge open. Upon seeing him dig in it for soda and leftovers, Tifa laughed lightly, "Sorry, the bar's closed," causing Cloud to jolt in surprise and get soda all over the front of his shirt. Cloud moaned at the mess, and Tifa joked, coming down the stairs to help him clean up, "It's all right, Cloud, no need to cry over spilled milk, or soda in this case." Cloud looked up at her gratefully, smiling with such an expression of serenity you might have thought she was an angel rescuing him from a pit of darkness. Tifa grabbed some paper towels, and turned to face the swordsman's soaked shirt, but was caught slightly off guard by the intensity of his gaze._

_"...uh, Cloud?" Tifa asked, wondering if Cloud was alright, then he took a step forward with a smile of confidence, and grabbed her right shoulder, leaning towards her face._

_Tifa was entranced by those eyes...those beautiful blue pools of light..._

_The next thing she knew, he had gently grabbed her by the waist with his other hand and effectively pinned her against the refridgerator with a long and intense kiss. Tifa's eyes momentarily widened, then closed in bliss, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the kiss, melting in his strong embrace..._

Tifa started with a gasp as glass shattered to the floor about three feet away, then sighed with a little annoyance before yelling,"Yuffie! Come on, you're making a mess in the kitchen, hon! Why don't you just go watch Marlene and Denzel upstairs?"

Yuffie, wearing a pink apron sporting the title, "Kiss the Cook", appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, just a couple of steps away from the refrigerator of her blissful memory.

"No way, Tifa! Those kids are so annoying!"

The rest of the evening turned out pretty uneventful. Until about closing time, when Marlene ran in from outside, eyes wild with fear, screaming, "Tifa! Tifa!"

Tifa looked up from the table she was cleaning that had gotten booze spilled all over it.

"Tifa! You gotta hurry! She's hurt!"

Completely confused and having no idea what Marlene was babbling so worriedly about, Tifa dropped her dishrag in the soap bucket and quickly followed Marlene to the front door.

Oh, how lovely. Shin-Ra cronies. And...that weird looking kid who came in earlier and never bought anything. Holy Gaia, she's covered in blood!

One look at the form crumpled on the ground and the guys who held various weapons surrounding her told Tifa all she needed to know. She assumed a fighting stance with her black battle gloves, which were already on in case a drunk got out of hand and went on a rage, and started beating the crap out of the Shin-Ra bullies.

Who already looked pretty worn. Hmm. This girl had spunk.

The bad guys ended up running away, afraid of the whole AVALANCHE group jumping out at them, so Tifa turned to Marlene and sweetly asked her to get Yuffie to help her carry the stranger in to tend her wounds, but all the while hoping a certain man with hair like the downy feathers of a baby chocobo bird would randomly show up.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the complete other side of the Planet, and in a different time zone...

Amelia woke to the caressing of salty ocean mist on her face, and when she opened her eyes, discovered to her pleasant surprise she was still being carried by Sephiroth. In her giddyness, a phrase popped into her head that seemed familiar, and yet foreign. "Fangirl frenzy"... She pondered over where that phrase came from for a moment...

She wouldn't have known the exact origin if she tried. Almost all of her memories from before being in the hospital were basically wiped.

This scared the crap out of her.

Amelia felt a strange sense of déjà vu sweep over her as she looked down at the vast landscape spreading ahead of them - white covered pine tree forests, glistening with freshly fallen snow. Ah, yes – she realized with an agonizing sense of annoyance, she had just been here last night, when she was attempting to seek answers from the old Shinra Mansion at Nibelheim. That had been a…disappointing failure…

_Amelia had finally given up on flying, since she was fairly close to her location. The Shinra Manor loomed up ahead of her, dark and ominous. Amelia hesitated, slightly nervous about what she would find, then continued forward with determination in her step – _

_Wait. She turned quickly and scanned the area, narrowing her eyes – she could have sworn she heard footsteps following her. The swordswoman frowned, then slowly walked onwards toward the front of the manor, about 40 feet away…_

_Whoever it was continued tracking her, the steps muffled quietly in the freshly fallen snow whenever hers did, and stopping when hers stopped. Amelia was beginning to get really pissed off now.  
Whirling around, Amelia yelled loudly, "Jennifer! I warned you not to follow -"_

_There was no one there…_

_"…me…" she murmured to herself, and nervously backed up towards the manor, then jumped with a start when she caught a flash of red in the corner of her eye._

_A deep voice growled, "May I ask why you're breaking into my house?"_

_Red cape billowing out, Vincent Valentine stood directly in her path, hand on his Cerberus._

_FUCK._

_Amelia did not want to deal with another angry demon person right now. Mother urged Amelia to focus on getting out of here so she could revive Sephiroth, which was more important than going on a trivial knowledge quest._

_Amelia backed up and took to the air in a frenzy, drawing Harbinger to deflect gunshots from the gunslinger._

_"Damn it," Vincent murmured, watching the silver haired woman escape, her silhouette passing through the moonlight for a moment, and felt through his pocket to call Cloud._

Amelia sighed, feeling a wave of helplessness and loneliness wash over her, like the harsh, icy waters behind them. At least she had Sephiroth, though. He was the only person on the planet she could call anything remotely close to a friend at this point.

There was something else familiar about this place, besides the fact that she had just escaped from a nearby region like this in the dark only hours before… as if she had lived here, perhaps before the experiments…

Sephiroth felt the silver hair shift in his grip before he noticed she was awake.

The general frowned at her worried expression, "What is wrong?"

Amelia jumped slightly at his voice, she had been so deep in her thoughts, and mumbled, her eyes distant in confusion,"Just...I can't...alot of my past...it's just gone..."

Her distant gaze hardened into a glare, "Damn that Hojo bastard- I - I wish I could-" she forgot herself for a moment and growled savagely, appearing as though she would love nothing better to go on a rampage with Harbinger at the moment.

Sephiroth knew that look of bloodlust well.

_Of course_, thought Sephiroth, _if Hojo had discovered another female Ancient besides that pink flower girl, it would make sense that Amelia had been captured to be experimented on. How dare that fool touch his Cetra_, Sephiroth's eyes darkened and he clenched his free hand.

His?

Yes, _his_. Sephiroth wordlessly raised the hand not being used to support Amelia and stroked her hair gently. Amelia's eyes widened, and she smiled bashfully as the gloved fingers ran through her silver locks. His emerald eyes...god they were so beautiful...

But Sephiroth was looking straight ahead at their destination, the northern continent, and they soon reached the wooded winter wonderland.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Sephiroth instructed Amelia with the tone of a commander ordering his men as she dueled with various fiends, but gazed on her with interest, mostly when she was not paying attention and busy fighting. His green catlike eyes noted every fine movement of her body as she jumped with renewed vigor, and since her wounds were mostly healed, her ebony wing fluttered gracefully.

Sephiroth shouted to her more advice every now and then from his resting spot against the edge of the trees - her evasiveness needed more improvement, but her advancing was coming along nicely. To him, she seemed to belong here in this forest, the way she danced gracefully out of harms' way and eased swiftly back in - almost like a mystical wood sprite.

He smirked again when his eyes accidentally hung for a moment on the shirt that kept pretending it was skin...

Then winced with pain as Mother screamed in his head.

_"Don't play stupid with me, son, I know you were just oggling that girl. Why do you even bother with her?"_

Jenova's voice screamed like grating nails on a chalkboard in his mind, but Sephiroth replied cooly, "Mother, I am simply training a new loyal apprentice...it doesn't hurt that she happens to be a Cetra," he paused here slyly with a smirk, green eyes slowly going down unaware Amelia's body, "or that she possesses certain appealing attributes..."

Outraged, Jenova sent him another painful headache wave, and Sephiroth began to suspect Jenova was jealous or something. "Now, Mother, our plans have not changed at all -"

"_See to it that they don't - I don't want your priorities muddled by some girl again_." She meant his temporary...infatuation? was that the right word?...with Aeris Gainsborough, before Mother convinced him that there was no way to bring that light and pure infested woman to see his grand vision for a new world order.

Sephiroth was about to snap back a retort that he had never done anything of the sort, but then decided perhaps it would be easier just to hold his tongue.

Amelia, unaware of the conversation between Mother and Sephiroth, hesitated in alarm when she noticed Sephiroth appeared to be cringing in pain. Distracted from her battle with a small pack of strange blue fox-like creatures, Amelia was unprepared for a rather large fox's lunge, and ended up with a nasty bite on her leg, despite the thick leather protecting it.

"OW! DAMMIT!" Amelia kicked the large fox off of her leg with a hiss. The bigger monsters earlier took longer to kill, but at least they weren't small and fast and in large groups all jumping on her at once. In that respect, the foxes were harder- not to mention they seemed to breathe ice. Amelia noted that where the teeth imprints had ripped into her skin it felt like she had frostbite.

As Amelia swung Harbinger at that annoying big one, which was ruffling up the fur on its back, baring its black and disgusting teeth with hatred, another exhaled an ice ball the size of her head, forcing her to switch targets mid-way to attempt to deflect the majority of the blow. A third took the opportunity to leap for her arm, managing to graze its claws on her lower forearm.

Frustrated beyond belief, Amelia let loose a storm of curses in quick succession (that may have even impressed Cid Highwind), and wildly thrashed Harbinger around back and forth like a maniac. It was no surprise that she panicked when Sephiroth grabbed both of her arms firmly place, but only for a moment; the general murmured in her ear, his hands on hers over the sword's hilt, "You're doing it wrong, my little wood sprite," he chuckled.

Amelia blushed at the close contact, trying to pay close attention to the general's instructions, and not the fluttery feeling rising in her chest when he whispered those instructions with warm breath against her ear in a way that sounded suspiciously more seductive than the tone of voice a superior military officer would use to speak to a lower ranker.

"Aim right for the throat or the heart...whichever is closer at the last moment." The two pairs of arms adjusted Harbinger's direction accordingly for the next several attacks, towards the most threatening fox each time, "Keep your weight balanced on the balls of your feet, not so much in the thrust, they don't need that much force to be exterminated."

Amelia shifted her feet to match with Sephiroth's swordsman stance. A stray fox attempting to seek some glory leaped for her left leg, and she kicked it very hard with annoyance, sending it flying like a football into an evergreen more than 40 feet away.

Sephiroth's voice was laden with amusement and...lust? "Stressed, are we?"

Amelia's face burned - was _Sephiroth_ _flirting with her?!?!_

Nervously, she flicked her side bang out of her vision back into place.

"Um, maybe," she growled at the stupid, unrelenting foxes.

Sephiroth smirked, gesturing toward the beasts with an open palm,"May I?"

Amelia grinned appreciatively, eager to watch Sephiroth fight, but was by no means prepared for his method.

The swordsman's eyes closed in concentration for a moment before he cast an evil emerald glance at the unlucky animals. For the second time that day, Amelia felt the ground shake underneath her feet, and she screamed in shock, losing her balance momentarily, and falling against Sephiroth. Cracks formed within the ice, then much deeper, running under the startled creatures' paws, and extending for nearly 20 yards beyond. The tundra plain began to crumble apart like dust from under the frightened canines, leaving the small space on which she and Sephiroth were standing alone, but nevertheless affected by the aftershocks of the earthquake. The cerulean pelts quickly vanished with a loud, mournful howl of panic, yelping into the cavernous, greedy mouth of earth, leaving Amelia to gasp with fear for many moments after the ice world had become ominously silent once more. A small circle of snow-covered land, with barely enough space for two people to stand on, stood at a height that could rival the tallest, towering trees nearby, a lone unnatural island.

When her heart had finally calmed down and gone back from her throat to her chest, she realized she was still hugging Sephiroth tightly, and let go immediately as though she had been burned, much to his amusement. Amelia asked him with wonder breathlessly, "How - How did you do that?" She felt dumb for asking the question as soon as it came out of her mouth - if Sephiroth could make dark clouds swirl above Midgar or giant pieces of metal buildings fly at Cloud without more than a hand gesture, then this was pure child's play to him. But Amelia was still curious.

_Wait a second. How did she know that? Was this a memory from her past?..._

Amelia came out of her reverie upon hearing her protector chuckle, "And you call yourself a Cetra." Sephiroth gracefully leapt from the "island" to the other side of the newly created canyon before looking back.

Amelia blinked. Being a Cetra meant..._she_ could do that? And damn his hot smirk, he was teasing her! Wow, this definitely had to be her day - the almighty Sephiroth was teasing her.

With a huff of fake annoyance, Amelia leapt the huge cavern (cheating of course, with her wing, not fully trusting herself to be able to cross that deep hole despite her new abilities) to land beside him, retorting, "Well, this _is_ all new to me. I only escaped from Shinra a couple of days ago."

Sephiroth remarked with a smile, "That is why I am teaching you _here, _where you can practice without being seen. Come," he motioned with one glove hand for her to follow, and Amelia walked in his footsteps in order to not get three feet of snow falling into her boots, which somehow managed to happen despite her pants being tucked in them.

She stood by his side as he approached the edge of the cliff side they were standing on - and stared on with amazement at the view; the icy, harsh landscape of the northern continent was covered with snowed hills of glittering white, little black or dark green specks that were trees covering much of the area, as well as a large waterfall in the distance, with a dangerous-looking river thrashing wildly with mini-glaciers for many miles like a knife through the heart of the eerily quiet haven.

Amelia usually wasn't one for nature watching, but she felt a sense of peace and beauty here. Now that the monsters were gone, of course. It almost seemed...romantic. She looked up at Sephiroth sharply upon this thought, with a small blush.

"It's beautiful," she murmured.

Sephiroth sighed, staring far beyond for a long moment before he remarked, "Far beyond what we can see...this entire world...all of this may appear beautiful, but it has become tainted...we must purge this illness and rebuild the Planet. In order to cure this world, we must destroy it first."

Amelia nodded slowly, feeling the heaviness of his words settle over her, then hesitated. "Everything?"

Sephiroth glanced at her evenly, for her to continue.

Amelia struggled to find the words to express what she meant correctly, "Must...everything perish...because of the humans?"

Sephiroth frowned before he continued darkly, "Amelia, the very Lifestream itself has rejected you."

_WHAT!?!_

He took her hand and pulled the glove off to reveal the strange black disease that had apparently spread since the last time she looked at it - by now, the blackness had traveled from the lower area of her palm to her wrist and part of her forearm. The contact of his gloved fingers against the strange, bruise-like sickness caused Amelia to wince and then whimper with agonizing pain.

Sephiroth let go immediately, "This will be your first Cetra exercise. If you remember how you used the Rezkon materia, you had to emerge within the Lifestream. Or rather, you invaded it. Concentrate like you did before, on the life forces around us."

Amelia quirked her eyebrow in confusion, but hey, if it worked before, it should work again, right?

She closed her eyes, letting the frosty wind brush against her lids, and her really cold nose, and unprotected ears, and damn that snow in her boots was annoying, and -

"Concentrate," Sephiroth commanded quietly, but not unkindly.

Amelia slowly ignored all of the trivial distractions, and focused on picturing the white vastness around her. As she began to relax, she discovered she could envision more of the details of the tundra around them; a white hare noiselessly shuffling out of its burrow to peep out; a red cardinal settiling into its nest; a mink patiently stalking a family of mice in hopes of a snack.

"Excellent,"praised Sephiroth voice, which echoed as though from far away, "Now you should be able to detect their connections to the lifestream."

Even as he spoke, emerald orbs of light began to glow brightly from each of the animals that she had spiritually come across, thin strands extending from each of the orbs to the limbs of the critters. Then the mink pounced on one of the mice, and she literally watched the life drain from the unfortunate rodent's body, but the green light became tendrils that escaped like gas from a container into the atmosphere, to join with the rest of the Lifestream.

Then she remembered what Sephiroth had said about the Lifestream having rejected her, and spiritually left the mouse and mink to travel to the two forms at the edge of the cliff, pausing with wonder to look at her stationary body, before searching for the green light that had been present in the other life forms.

A faint glow at the center of her form was all that she found - and -

Holy shit...that black marking on her hand...was like a black mist that was slowly migrating underneath her skin towards the dim center glow, as if to smother and completely destroy it. She glanced at Sephiroth with a sudden worry, and saw with confusion that where his form should have been, was an outline of completely black...as if he didn't even exist...

Amelia turned back to her own body with a frown, then, curiously looked deeper, where the green dim light met with black void -

She heard strange voices murmuring in her mind, or maybe they were just inhuman moans, some higher, crying, some angry, accusing, and lower, and none of their words were intelligible. Flashes of black amidst green spots, the murmurs had become shrill screams -

She snapped back to the present to Sephiroth shaking her hard, sounding extremely concerned -

"Amelia! Amelia!"

Amelia found herself collapsed on the ground, eyes dazed and unable to focus, her muscles extremely weak.

"Sorry," she mumbled, feeling silly for her body's reaction, but in too much pain to notice Sephiroth's sudden look of fear.

"Amelia," Sephiroth commanded, "Stay awake."

Amelia, shivering, barely registered that she was being carried. Damn, why the hell was she always fainting? She didn't want to be carried, she could fly herself!

"No...I'm fine," she mumbled defiantly, but Sephiroth ignored her, flying her at a dangerous speed towards the nearest town, slicing any trees in his path with anger - he had meant for this exercise to be used to help cure her sickness, not make it worse. Icicle Inn was the closest place he could get her...she needed shelter quickly, and perhaps the fever would temporarily subside once she was warm. If any humans sighted them and alerted his enemies, then Masamune would get some much needed use...perhaps he would just kill them anyways, useless filthy vermin they are.

"So...tired..."

"Amelia! No, you _must_ stay awake," Sephiroth commanded, raising his voice in hopes of keeping the girl conscious. If she fell asleep, all might be lost...

No...she was already unconscious. Sephiroth furiously lashed at the next pine much harder than necessary with a yell. The inhabitants of Icicle Inn were about to have a nasty surprise from an unexpected visitor...

* * *

_WUURK! WUURK! WUURK!_

Shannon jolted wide awake to the obnoxious dorm fire alarm, and with a moan glanced at the clock. 4:08 AM. Dammit, why did idiots have to go and pull the fire alarm at this time of the night?

For a moment, she considered covering her head with a pillow and going back to sleep, then decided against it when she could still hear the male robotic voice of the alarm warning everyone to evacuate the building. Groaning, Shannon grabbed her coat and headed towards the door, then remembered she'd left that Ancient Cetra book lying out on her bed, and quickly stuffed it in the closet behind some ancient bag of Doritos and an ancient, forgotten pair of stained, once-neon orange socks. Satisfied that it was safely hidden in case a weirdo for some reason came in and barfed in her room (it had happened to someone down the hall before) Shannon darted down the stairs with the rest of the sleepy, cursing, half-awake college students to the lawn outside.

She had just left the exit down the stairs, when she heard whispers in her head again - oh my god, would Aerith please just leave her alone? Wait...these voices...sounded...or rather, _felt_, different - it was like a chorus of musical, unearthly whispers across the wind, warning her to not line up with the rest of the students. Was this what Aerith heard in the FF7 game when she said she was listening to the Planet? She could barely understand its - their - words, but something clicked in her brain when she recognized it as a foreign tongue she somehow could understand... at least as much as a student who studies a foreign language for a few years and then journeys into the mother country, and barely catches a word or so in every couple sentences of a native's speech.

_"...Rima...take flight, daughter..."_ breathed the low, (female?) voices - or maybe it was just one echoing voice.

What the fuck was with this "Rima" thing? You don't call someone by their middle name! Stupid Planet things...

Shannon was absolutely puzzled, but did as the strange voices pleaded, since they sounded so worried and urgent. But what the hell could possibly be so wrong about staying with the group when its pitch black dark outside? (With the exception of a few lights outside of other dorms and an empty dining hall in the distance, one over part of the parking lot, and some faint glows from the still-up-and-partying-drunk frats further off.) Since she had come out at the tail end of her floor's group, and didnt really know anybody from the other five or so floors above her who were following her down the stairs to get outside a minute ago, nobody noticed her stealthily sneak off into the darkness to the abandoned rear of the seven floor dorm building into the parking lot.

Shannon hid behind a car, feeling extremely foolish doing so - why was she even _doing_ this? She was so sleepy, had been having weird dreams all night again, and wanted to go back to bed before class tomorrow as soon as possible...not play hide and seek in an abandoned parking lot at 4 am in the morning.

Shannon soon noticed something was wrong, however, when the shadowy outline of the students didnt return back into the building after fifteen minutes, and a police car showed up. But she assumed it was somebody in trouble for drinking, or carrying marijuana, or something like that. Although no ambulance was showing up to carry any intoxicated individuals away, and it seemed rather odd for the police to want to come investigate marijuana suspects at this time of night...at this rate, it would be early morning, and people with 8 am classes might just say "screw it" and stay up. A man who she assumed was a cop began speaking into a megaphone to the group, whose noise eventually died down after a couple of his attempts at getting quiet.

"Is anyone here a "Shannon Pearson"? Anyone? Or do any of you know where she is?"

What the...

Shannon had a really bad feeling about this. Either something bad had happened to her family, and the police were coming to tell her her mom randomly died or something...or...no...that wouldn't make sense. They wouldn't wake up the whole dorm of hundreds of people over something like that. Moreover, why the hell would the police wake everyone up over her for anything?

Oh shit. Something was really wrong here.

Antoher megaphone guy, "What? You say she went home?"

Ah, good old nosy but friendly dorm mates, looking out for her. They saw her all worried earlier today...or maybe that was technically yesterday now...and then saw her leave to go back home to chat with mom, about 10-15 minutes off campus. No one must have noticed or paid attention when she returned to the dorm later at night, since there was a hall party going on downstairs in the main lobby.

"If any of you see her, you let us know - she's not in trouble, but we really need to have a chat with - " (murmuring to his partner) "this Shannon Pearson gal. Sorry to disturb you from your sleep, try to have a good night," the man sounded slightly amused at the grumbling and booing and swearing that arose as he finished speaking.

Fidgeting slightly at her kneeled spot behind a silver 2000 Honda SUV, Shannon felt extremely nervous, and didn't buy the mans words. At all. She heard those weird voices again, which, although they were comforting, still freaked her out to no end.

It was so faint, though, that she mumbled, "Wha?" before the melodious whispers repeated_,"...Seek darkness..."_

"Got it," she whispered, and sprinted towards the last place she wanted to be - the closest frat. She didn't remember what its greek letters were, and didn't really care; she just had to get across the parking lot, behind the closed dining hall, and over a rickety wooden bridge she had never crossed before. It was the middle of nowhere, hidden by tons of pine trees, and frat boys always entered from the other side, by the secondary road. Apparently Jenni and Amy had played hide and seek in the winter here before, during freshman year, and Jenni was found in her hiding spot when Amy "cheated" and called on Jenni's cell phone, which thus blared an extremely loud ring tone recording of Amy singing a Disney song.

But just when she got past the dining hall, she heard voices start shouting, and whipped her head around.

Oh shit. She'd been spotted.

Since she had no idea if the way ahead of her was a solid dead end, and she would be easily spotted there now, with the flashlights drawing closer, Shannon switched directions, from north to south-west, past another sloppily-built and much shorter dorm, and towards a steep hill that would lead her past two more dorms and to the main road. Shannon was acting only on instinct, and wasn't exactly the best runner, but had a nasty gut feeling about the cops following - no, chasing her now. That could not be good. Panting, she spared a glance back before she attempted to climb the painfully steep and rocky hill. They had only gotten to the perimeter of the last dorm she passed, but were quickly gaining on her. Thank goodness there was no snow, or this would be even worse.

In her panic, she scraped her ankle against a sharp protruding boulder that blended in with the inky black night. Shannon yelped, but barely slowed in her run, now her speed getting faster since she was running down the hill. She hesitated briefly, not sure which way to go next , and had two options: across the very lit main street, to be exposed for probably a good half of a minute before she escaped into the windy paths of the not very well lit middle and far reaches of campus, or behind the most glamorous dorm on campus's dark rear and then towards the worst party fraternities on campus, in order to avoid the brightly glowing gymnasium. Since Shannon really did not want to tread in unfamiliar and drunk-infested territory, she chose the former.

When she reached the small stone staircase at the edge of the wide lawn past the steep rocky hill, and was about to cross onto the street, she dared another peek back.

They were about 30 yards off. And had...guns!?!??!?! OH SHIT!!!!! WERE THEY GONNA SHOOT!?!?!?

With a cry of fear, the brunette dashed wildly across the wide street, barely avoiding an 18-wheeler propane truck (one of the only vehicles on the deserted road) in the process, before crossing to the lawn in front of the library.

By this point, Shannon was gasping wildly for air - she had just run across a large chunk of the campus, maybe a good half mile by now, and her legs were getting heavier. She wanted to stop and rest at the benches she passed by outside of the language and social sciences building she passed, and just take a breather, clutch her skinned ankle, and go to sleep right there, but knew that was not an option, with the pack of half a dozen or more officers following her. Now that she thought about it, and had a better look thanks to the lighting on the main street, their uniforms were unlike any typical policemen's. All she really saw was a blur of navy and black, because she had to just keep running.

"...just keep running, keep running," Shannon encouraged herself between pants, though she had no clue where she was really going to go, or how long it would take before she just gave in to exhaustion.

Then came to the dreaded "mountain" by the library. It was the most steep hill in all of campus, about as half as tall or more than the five story library that stood on it. Shannon bit her lip in hesitation, pausing at the peak of the mountain; she really did not want to go down this hill, but it was the fastest way and quickest path to safety.

Shannon rubbed her bleeding ankle again, wondering if maybe she could just get away with hiding in the shadow of a nearby academic building, but men shouting from the middle of the lawn, just barely in eyesight, quickly made her decide.

With all her might, she sped down the slope, only to slip over her feet in a muddy patch right at the point of the hill that students used as a ramp to get some air when sledding. "SHIIIIIIT!" she couldn't help but scream as she flew into the air about a good two feet, only to land unceremoniously about twenty feet down, and rolled for another forty feet or so at an uncontrollable and painful speed, despite the soft dew-covered grass, because of tons of little coarse pebbles bruising her skin as her body flipped over and over-

Oh no. Not the wooden bench and fire hydrant -

There was not enough time for her to adjust her rumble-tumble crash course angle, and she stopped moving with a sickening smash against both offending objects, her abdomen receiving the full impact of the fire hydrant that felt as though it would go through her stomach, and the leg of the bench cutting into her chin, hard.

Finally, Shannon remained still, unable to move from her current position partly due to shock but mostly due to the huge pain - she could feel her chin bleeding freely, and it would probably need stitches.

Unfortunately, she was by a lamp post. And it sounded like the men were wandering around at the top of the hill, right by the library. Either she could try to get up and run for the blissfully dark windy dirt paths of the forest that were just ahead, or hide under the stupid bench that got her hurt in the first place. Because Shannon was nervous that she'd be seen if she stood to run, and thus lose any chance at all of escape, she shuffled quietly underneath the bench, curled into the fetal position, and prayed for the cops to leave. Eventually, their voices died away, but Shannon was too petrified with fear to check if they were truly gone, and her ribs and face hurt so much, that she remained where she was, even when the sky began to show signs of approaching dawn. By the time the procrastinating sun had finally emerged from slumber to peek over the horizon, Shannon had fallen asleep in her hiding place.

* * *

A/N: ...Aaaaand here's where I shall leave it for now, because I have not posted in ages, and i wanted to give you guys _something_ to read :D

I am not _completely_ procrastinating! XD Anyways, the second half of this chapter will (hopefully) be posted by this time next week. That will have Jenni stuff (wow, first chapter with no jennis pov! XD) and then more shannon with her getting to the FF7 world I _promise_, and more seph and amy, cuz they have a nice slaughter fest coming up. w00t. And somewhere in there reno will be having fun for a while. hahaha. and eventually jenni will acutally meet vincent (YAY! *fangirl squee*VINCENT!) and i will finally get to type the funny stuff i had planned with jenni and yuffie. Muahahah. So, please tell me if you guys think this story needs improvement or is awesome, i got SO MANY VIEWS!!!since last chapter, but no Reviews. I had 377 views right before i posted chapter 8; now that i am about to post chapter 9, there have been...a WHOPPING 538 TOTAL HITS!!! OMG!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!!11!!!1!

*faints with ecstacy*

And in case anyone is wondering, the seph x amy pairing will be the fastest to hook up. Others will take longer. (Cloti doesnt count, since they've already taken the longest, having known each other since childhood - geez, waaaay too long XD).

~ So, until next time, this is Rutilus, signing off! ~

* * *


	10. Chaos

**Update from the author:** Hey, tis I once again! The amazing Rutilus! ^^;;; Sorry for taking so long to update, i probably will take a while to update the chapter after this, too, because...life is pretty hectic right now.

I only got about 3/4 of the chapter done so far, but here is like half of the total chapter, (since posting all i have would stop in a random spot X_X) hope you enjoy :)

Btw, i LOVE ALL OF YOU who are favoriting/subscribing/commenting!! XD i feel so loved! last time i checked i had over 700 views!!! XD

Music:

Jenni: "They're Going To Take Me Away" after I finally stopped headbanging to Shannon's "Sandstorm" XD

* * *

Darkness...so much of it, I feel overwhelmed by its presence...I can't remember how I got here, or where I am in the first place, but I feel so empty right now...

Strangely, even though this place is nothing but a black vastness, devoid of any light, I am able to see my own body easily. Standing up from the ground that matches the sky in appearance, enough that I question whether the ability to stand on a solid flat surface truly means that a floor exists, or if I'm just losing my mind, I glance down at my arms and legs to find that my wounds are non-existent, and this puzzles me greatly. Then I remember the fight with the Shin-Ra guards - and Marlene. The poor kid probably thinks I am a frightening boogey monster now, and will never look at me the same way again. And to think that I almost turned on her, the only one I have met so far who has treated me like a normal person, and I betray her trust by letting Chaos scare her - and much worse could have happened.

I shudder at the thought, and nervously glance around. This place is so empty, and cold. I begin to notice tendrils of fog drifting lazily across the undetectable ground.

Did I die earlier? Is this hell? Because this certainly is not a friendly afterlife...not that I expected fluffy clouds and cherubs with harps...come to think of it, this doesn't resemble any of my guesses on what hell would look like, either. Perhaps limbo? This thought causes me to snort with dry humor. It would make sense. After all, I lost my faith in being a _true_ Christian about two years ago, and now would technically be more truthful in describing myself as agnostic - something created existence, but I sure haven't met them, and I can't accept any of the stories I have heard since childhood with complete and devoted faith anymore, not when innocent, kind-heared atheist friends of mine would supposedly be goiing to hell. And now...what with me being infused with this demon...I wonder if it is possible for me to even be accepted into heaven or whatever its equivalent is. Let alone be able to die.

I notice that a rim of orange glowing light is at the horizon now, in all directions. I'm beginning to doubt that this world is a limbo one, but have no idea where the hell else this could be. Curious, I head towards the light, eventually running as my fear of the unknown increases, my stride oddly noiseless, and the only sound I can hear is my own uneven breathing.

The glow gets brighter as I approach, flickering tendrils dancing from it. My thoughts return to the small battle; why would the soldiers have been after Marlene? I knew they wanted me for more gruesome testing...Gawd, I don't even want to think about it. Hojo was probably furious that I had escaped and thinks that torture would be a good punishment...That didn't make sense, though; if he wanted his hypothesis to be accurate - me to fight with Vincent Valentine due to that whole "only one Chaos at a time" notion (and him obviously win, I'm sure of that) or make babies for him to test on as lab rats (christ that man is sick,) then that would involve contact between me and Vincent, which couldn't happen if I was trapped in his laboratory. Unless Hojo had decided to delay his hypothesis and just torment me.

I growl in-between pants, quickening my pace, and as I have discovered now that the light source I am running toward is fire, (and still don't know why I am trying to reach it, but this seems very important suddenly,) the orange tendrils lick up higher into the blackness, growing slightly bigger.

I try to think like a scientist to sort this out - I am still unsure how he already had his whole plan setup to inject Chaos into me before I had even seen this creep, but the idea that makes the most sense is that he already had this plan beforehand, and I just happened to fit the puzzle nicely, being a homeless, naive girl and a Vincent fan already. I also have had a pretty strange life - nothing I could compare with this, and definitely not as rough as Valentine's, but for someone my age, I have already known more about hardship than most people I know my age. Immediately, several unbidden images fly into memory - I shake my head. _No._ Focus, no dwelling.

My close friends have wondered why I am still a nice, friendly person, not an insane one. Let's just say I had very...strict...parents.

Perhaps having Chaos in my head will just push me over the edge now.

This thought is absolutely frightening to me. And I've been trying to avoid it for the past three days now. Is that how much time has even passed? I'm not sure. On the one hand, it seems like I'm living a nightmare, that I will wake in my dorm room and attend a math course tomorrow that I forgot to study for. And on the other, so much has happened in this short time frame, that I marvel at the simplicity of my life of about a week ago - I mean, months ago...since I've been sleeping. I keep forgetting that. Maybe I haven't gone through enough to be at Vincent's level of darkness, so Hojo wants to fix that. Like **HELL** am I letting that happen...His ego-ridden hide can **_rot in a nice little fire pit_** before I get anywhere near him again.

Surprised, I suddenly find myself face to face with the orange flaming boundary, the fire now a little taller than I. When the hell did I get here?

The fire looks strange - almost reflective, like the surface of an automobile.

Despite my fear, I slowly peer closer at the flame, jumping back with shock as a pale, smirking face emerges - an exact copy of my own, albeit blue-tinted.

Smug golden irises lock with frightened red ones.

As Chaos steps toward me, the flames roar with a flare for a moment as her body crosses through, and the ground near the light appears like red dust and pebbles.

I step back instinctively as the demon approaches. "Where is the place?" I demand to know, my voice wavering.

"**I should think it would be obvious, Allens, that this is your own mind."** Chaos' voice is deeper than mine, sarcasm dripping from her words.

It is highly unnerving to be staring into a demonic version of your own face. Especially one mocking you.

I can't help but wonder - is Chaos going to be killing me inside my own head!?!?!

_Damn cool voice, though,_ my dumb random side offers.

I wonder if Chaos can read my mind, since she's part _of_ my mind.

The demon's gaze is scary, to say the least, boring right through me. Oh wait a second. That's right, that's what _I_ looked like earlier...Shit...

The golden orbs narrow, "**If you are going to ask for my assistance in your p****athetic battles, then I will require...payment."** Chaos carelessly extends and flexes claws on one arm to make the point.

_What kind of payment!?!?! KILLING!?!?!? NO FUCKING WAY!_

Chaos smirks again, taking another menacing step forward, "**Yes, I can hear your thoughts. And if you have a problem with this arrangement, host, we can settle this right now -** "

_Oh God. A challenge? As in me fight my own demon while in my head and then lose, die, and turn into Chaos permanently!?!?! Or something!?_

"**That's what I thought...And you will not interfere next time, or I will take the child,"** Chaos looks just that much more smug now.

For the first time in this conversation, I allow the outburst to jump out, as stupid as I am, "I am NOT going to kill people! Especially not a child! Are you insane!?"

A strange sly grin appears on Chaos's face. **"Would you be willing to put your own life at risk then?"**

_How the hell did Vincent deal with this crap?_

_Damn, why couldn't this just be easy and my demon just be a weird ally of sorts with me?_

Chaos looks highly amused, **"Foolish child...so naive..."** Gruesome pictures of the soldiers from the night I escaped Hojo flash by, and now a new one - Marlene.

Blood running down her neck, a slash across her arm, her eyes frozen wide even in death -

Something snaps in me then, "GO TO FUCKING HELL!" I shriek with horror, falling to my knees.

**"Unfortunately, for the both of us, I am unable to do so. I would gladly leave your pathetic body if I had the means, human. Regardless of this, there _will be payment_."** The first part was sarcastic, the last threatening.

Looking back on this moment, I am ashamed that I let my tongue run unchecked, but at the moment I was desperate.

"Why can't it be a cow or something instead!?!" I pleaded, but no sooner had the words left my mouth did I realize my mistake.

The demon sneers down at my broken form. **"Done."**

* * *

Snow flakes began to softly flutter down from the dark grey enormous cloud that had recently migrated to cover the entire visible sky, at least from the perspective of the figure leaning motionless against the side of a stone wall of one of the many abandoned buildings of the ghostown Nibelheim. The man had been waiting patiently for hours, remaining nearly as perfectly solid as the building he rested against, and under the cover of blackness, even his bright blood-red cloak was hard to observe from the shadowy place he chose to wait. A faint whirring sound of a helicopter approaching from the distance caused the ever-alert gunslinger to perk his head up sharply, then slowly emerge from his position into the wide open and uncared for road. The helicopter was marked with the Shinra logo, and as it came closer, the propeller's noise growing painfully louder in volume, one of the occupants flicked on the bright spotlight. Vincent Valentine tensed his body in preparation for a spring as the rickety wood and rope ladder unfolded swiftly and neared his position. For safety precautions, the copter would not land; with an agile leap, Vincent grasped the dangling ladder with his gauntlet at about ten feet off of the ground. The occupants did not wait for him to climb up before the hovering aircraft sped quickly out of the town.

The gunslinger calmly climbed into the backseat of the helicopter behind the cockpit as though this was merely another one of his usual daily activities before he was presented with a loud and enthusiastic greeting from the pilot.

"Yo, Vampy! My man! Nice jump!" Reno shot him a thumbs up with a mischievous grin.

Vincent gave the annoying redhead a tired stare. "Was that really necessary?"

Reno shrugged, "Sorry about the ladder, yo, it's kinda busted and should go down more than that, but I didn't wanna bust this buddy," he patted the steering wheel with his other hand, "'round the close buildings by flying' too low, ya know?"

Vincent sighed, then acknowledged Rude's presence with a courteous nod. He much preferred Rude's company; the man was more stoic and silent like him.

All of a sudden a carefree tune began playing, and a goofy-sounding voice began singing quite loudly along with children's voices, causing Vincent to scowl and Reno to have a heart attack.

"WHAT the ba-Jesus fuckin' HELL!?!" For a moment, the copter's flight pattern swerved violently, and thus Rude's coffee spilled all over the co-pilot side of the cockpit ("Fuck!").

Vincent impassively pulled a cellphone from his pocket and answered it, Reno and even Rude staring with dumbstruck open mouths.

"Hello Cloud," Vincent managed evenly, before being cut off by Reno's outburst, "...WHY THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE A MR. CHOCOBO THE BLUE BIRD RINGTONE!?!?!"

Cloud, on the other end, made a small noise in surprise, whatever he was about to say evaporating for a moment.

Vincent cleared his throat, "Please inform Tifa that the next time I see her she resets Marlene's previous ringtone supplements."

Cloud rolled his eyes with a sheepish smile, knowing full too well that Marlene was probably advised by certain others to give the Chocobo head the Chocobo ringtone.

"Will do, Vincent. I'm assuming your ride came alright?"

Vincent grunted in response, then, "I was unable to do little more than frighten off this Remnant character, but I believe that this is a female, and the same one that I mentioned to you before in the Midgar square."

"The one flying on the rooftops?" Cloud sighed, thoroughly sick of any one who had silver hair at this point.

"...yes..." Vincent hesitated, wondering if he should mention to Cloud his concern about the other companion who had been with the Remnant. For some reason, about a week after the battle against the three Remnants several months ago, Chaos had started acting up. Vincent had been planning on abandoning AVALANCHE and living on his own again, since there was no more need for him to hang around with the group, but when his most powerful demon began giving him strong signals that something was wrong, he had decided it would be best to wait things out a little longer, in case danger was just around the corner again. Until three days ago, however, nothing new had occurred, and Vincent had begun to doubt his previous feelings - but Chaos started hissing in his mind, and so the gunslinger went to go visit Midgar and check on Cloud and Tifa and whoever else of the group had lingered.

_Once he had gotten to the crowded streets, (which were very uncomfortable to the anti-social man) he suddenly got strong vibes from Chaos, and spotted the shock of silver hair. But the demon, strangely, was more interested in the woman dressed in red and black who was walking with the Remnant._

_His other three demons sensed an inhuman presence about this girl as well, a mixture of hostility and curiousity from Chaos in particular._

_A combination of battle instinct and influence from his inner occupants convinced the gunslinger to pursue the two, but his presence appeared to have been noticed by the object of Chaos's main attention, as she suddenly dragged her Remnant companion to run off. After dealing with the stampede of the panicking mob that suddenly formed after the silver-haired woman threatened a random nearby person with her sword, Vincent realized with agonizing dismay that he had lost the pair for the moment. Patiently, he waited for the crowd's panic to subside, and continued to search for any sign of either mysterious woman. A mere few minutes later, he found them._

_But what would confuse the gunslinger the most, was witnessing the Remnant's sudden attack on her ally. He first spotted them flying out of one of the taller apartment complexes, the Remnant sprouting a large black wing as they made their perilous descent._

_Why?_

_Were they both evil, and having a fight over power?_

_That seemed to be the impression that Chaos was radiating, but it didn't seem quite right. _

"Hey, Vincent? You still there?" Vincent snapped out of his memory, and apologized quickly to Cloud, who had been trying to get his attention for a while.

"It's alright Vincent, but, um, we kinda have a problem down here at the bar..."

"What's going on?"

"Tifa wanted to call you earlier, but she forgot to ask Marlene to write down your number, so she told me as soon as I got here. There's...someone here you might recognize. She - "

Vincent knew immediately it was the non-Remnant individual. Regardless of the fact that he was being given a friendly ride by Reno and Rude back to Seventh Heaven, things could quickly become ugly if the Turks discovered a Shinra test escapee and took to questioning them before AVALANCHE.

"Cloud, I will speak with you later about this privately." Immediately, Reno and Rude turned to glance at him with slight suspicion.

"Oh, sorry. Forgot about your, uh, company. I'll see you soon then?"

"Wait!" Reno's outburst caught Vincent by surprise, but he quickly schooled his expression to render his calm mask, expecting Reno to ask about details.

Not.

"Can you send a message for me, Vamp?" And without waiting for a reply, Reno shouted, "I LOVE YOU! CAN WE MEET FOR ANOTHER CHOCOLATE AND MATERIA DATE SWEETIE!?"

Vincent's mask of coolness vanished, his jaw slack and left eye twitching. Cloud remained **very** silent on the other end of the line. Rude slowly lowered his sunglasses off of his nose and stared with an almost identical expression to that of Vincent's.

Reno immediately flushed almost as red as his hair, especially in the ears, and stammered, looking around wildly,"WHAT? Is there a fucking problem with the idea of me and Yuffie dating?"

Immediately the tension in the room phased out and Rude and Cloud began laughing to tears, Vincent allowing himself a small chuckle.

"WHAT!? WHAT THE FUCK IS SO FUNNY!?!?!"

"...ooookay." Gasped Cloud after regaining his breath of relief.

"Right," Vincent smirked.

"Later."

Beep. Click.

Vincent sighed.

He would have the Turks drop him off at the edge of Midgar, under the guise of it not being a good idea for some Turks and AVALANCHE to be seen being too close if their superiors had a problem with it. Reno was only too glad to do so, as long as Vincent was his "delivery boy", and dropped off a package for him.

"...why don't you ask Cloud?"

"You're right here, so you can do it, Vamps."

Vincent gritted his teeth at the annoying nickname. Yes, Yuffie and Reno were definitely a compatible pair. Both loud. Both wild (sometimes due to alcohol). Both defying social structure. And both extremely annoying.

After he was dropped off at the edge of the city, the gunslinger began his walk to Seventh Heaven to meet and...interrogate this stranger.

* * *

Tifa bit her lip as she closed the door to Denzel's room, pondering over the night's events. Marlene had seemed oddly quiet, and had hesitated by Yuffie's room, where the strange guest was resting, as though she was worried about her, but then hurried quickly to a very surprised Denzel's room and hugged him tightly, refusing to leave him. Denzel and Marlene ended up falling asleep together, the two little friends looking very adorable.

It had been quite a struggle to get the skinny woman up the stairs, because she began to thrash around rather violently in what seemed to be a nightmare, which Yuffie found out the hard way, being on the side that apparently had a claw arm like Vincent's. Cloud was due back any minute, and had seemed extremely worried when she described the appearance of their unconscious visitor, even when she mentioned that she had saved Marlene. Yuffie was keeping an eye on her, to see if she woke up or improved in condition, and at Cloud's request, had brought her shuriken as a precaution, though Tifa found this highly absurd. Why would they need to be afraid of this kid who barely managed to stay alive long enough for a child to run in the bar?

Then again, why would an average person being wearing a gauntlet? And why did Cloud seem concerned? And Marlene was usually not so...un-Marlene.

She noticed Yuffie's head pop out from her room down the hall with a frown, beckoning her over.

TIfa crept in silently, noting the gauntlet had been removed by a certain expert ninja's skills and placed on the opposite side of the room of this..."Jenni" girl, as Marlene had mentioned. "Anything new yet?" She whispered to her tomboy-ish friend.

Yuffie didn't bother to whisper, being Yuffie, but looked slightly disturbed. "Nope, just talking in her sleep now, and its damn creeping me out. Something about killing people." She shuddered, "Took that bugger off so she won't scratch me anymore." Yuffie growled, rubbing her arm. Being a ninja was handy; quick reflexes saved you from the most random of attacks.

Tifa stared suddenly at the woman laying on Yuffie's bed. "Yuffie. I thought she was bleeding."

Yuffie blinked, "Uh, yeah?"

Tifa shook her head in amazement. "Her left shoulder, it's almost completely healed..."

Yuffie paused, then grinned, "She must be special like Vinny or Cloud or something then. That would explain the Shinra dudes being stupid fuckers!"

Tifa sighed before giving an exasperated smile at the loud ninja, "Yuffie, I agree with you, but must you swear with the kids right down the hall?"

Yuffie chuckled, "Aw, come on Boobs, I don't swear half as much as Cid. But maybe I should, it would be funny to teach Denzel to be more rude!"

The martial artist threw one of Yuffie's extra black pillows at her.

"Go to fucking hell..." came an anguished sob from the bed, causing both quiet giggles to cease immediately.

Tifa breathed, "I think I'll go call Cloud, and see how far he is."

Yuffie moaned, "Thanks alot, leave me here with the creepy person." Tifa gave her a sympathetic smile before leaving the room.

Almost as soon as Tifa had gone down the stairs, the door to the bar opened, revealing a frazzled Cloud.

"Are you alright? Where is she? And Marlene?" He asked with worry, closing the door quickly.

"I'm fine, Cloud, really, just was worrying about you. Our guest is resting in Yuffie's room and seems to be having a bad nightmare still, and Marlene's sleeping in Denzel's room."

Cloud raised an eyebrow at this last part, but smiled faintly, then frowned with seriousness again. "Alright, well, Vincent is on his way as soon as he can, the Turks are dropping him off at the edge of town." Tifa chuckled at the idea of the stoic gunman contending with Reno's attitude.

Cloud hesitated at the stairs before he went up to check on things, turning back to Tifa. "He's been acting kinda off a little lately, did you notice?"

Tifa frowned, "Who? Vincent?"

Cloud nodded solemnly.

"I'm afraid I didn't, but then I haven't been talking to him lately, you have, so you probably have a better judgement than I. Why? Do you know?"

Cloud shook his head. "I'm assuming his demons are bothering him again. It's the only reason for him to have been acting so...even more distant than usual."

Cloud sighed, then climbed the stairs to have a look at the situation, Tifa following close behind.

They were both shocked to find Yuffie clutching her stomach and laughing her head off. "Hahaha, oh you two just missed it, she was talking about COWS! Ahahaha..."

Cloud stared with mild disbelief, took one glance at the exhausted, sleeping, relatively harmless-looking stranger, and shook his head. "Let me know when she wakes up, Yuffie," he said with slight relief before leaving the room to retire to the sofa. And the TV and the food that was calling to his grumbling stomach from the fridge.

_________________________________________________

A/N: XD dont forget to comment, please! :)


	11. Question from Author

Hey peoples, this is Rutilus again. Not an update yet, probably wont be for a month, but i am just dying for advice.

A - are the chapters too long?

B - do you like it, or is it scaring ppl away?

XD yeah, i was just curious, since i have over 870 views now, but less readers every chapter (with number 8 as an exception, everyone seemed to like that chapter, it had the most hits - over 100!)

When we get to 1000 hits, im posting a whole bunch of fanart links ^_^ or maybe ill do that sooner, but do a really good picture for the 1000 mark ^___^

So yeah...is it too long, and do you like it/hate it.

Cheers!

~Rutilus


	12. Alchohol N00b

**HEY PEOPLEZ!!!! IM ACTUALLY ALIVE!!!!!!**

Sephiroth: T_T Not for long...

O_O!!!! I had reasons! And I'll be updating much more often now, like once a week or something! Instead of like once every month or two!

Sephiroth: *re-sheathes Masamune* I'll be watching you. *glares*

Amelia: *drags Sephiroth away so he won't keep being scary*

^_^; But yeah, this is what was supposed to be the second half to the previous chapter. We won't be seeing Jenni POV for a while (like two chapters or three, w00t!) so that we can go back to talking about Rima-

Shannon: X_X

-sorry, Shan-chan ^_^; and also Amelia! Yay! And since I have now gotten OVER 1,000 VIEWS!!!! I must post some links to art for this fic! XD

Unfortunately, I haven't drawn much stuff yet, and half of the stuff on my deviant art is a work in progress doodle or not colored, but ah well. Here be a link to my dA account!:

jenniallens(dot)deviantart(dot)com

Hurrah! I love you people!

And I will working on pics more, too! I already colored an Amelia/Seph pic, but haven't scanned the colored version yet. The black and white version is on dA.

So without further ado, the second half of chapter...ten? to the fanfic!

Oh yeah:

Songs:

Jenni - Everybody's Fool by Evanesence

Yuffie - Caramelldansen (Speedycake Remix) by Caramell

* * *

Oh gawd, I feel so fucking tired...

My whole body feels wiped out, sore all over, but shouldn't I be used to this sort of thing by now?

All that I can think of is Chaos's threat, her sneering face. With a shudder, I snuggle further under the covers for warmth and a sense of security, to pretend that I can ignore the inevitable, just as I have for every struggle in my life.

Wait. Blankets?

I crack my eyes open hesitantly, blinded by the intensity of light after having been accustomed to darkness in sleep, visions, and the outdoors for the past hours.

The blanket is black, with thin white floral designs similar to that of one of Yuffie Kisaragi's outfits. Yuffie. AVALANCHE. Marlene.

Oh god! Is Marlene alright?

I sit up with a start, but fall back down instantly with a cry of pain. It doesn't necessarily come from a location where I was shot or sliced today, just an agonizing weakness all over; in fact, I don't even remember where some of those wounds were.

Without warning, a pair of brown orbs are staring into my own. And then quickly the person runs off before my brain can process any information.

"SHE'S AWAAAAAAAaaaAAAAAKE!"

What the fuck...?

I groan, rubbing my forehead with exhaustion.

It takes me a full twenty seconds to realize that I'm being stared at by three people.

"Oh my god," I murmur with a smile of disbelief, staring just as much.

"Well good morning there, I'm Tifa. We figured you needed a place to rest," the brunette laughs politely.

"...thank you," I breathe, but I feel so brain dead I am unable to say much else for a moment.

Tifa Lockheart, Yuffie Kisaragi, and Cloud Strife. I'm still having trouble believing I'm here, in a Final Fantasy World, regardless of Chaos. The only thing that makes me certain I'm not on a giant acid trip of unconsciousness somewhere and not knowing it is that this is all too real, I can feel this pain, this fear and confusion and ..._amazingness_ could not have been conjured up by my own head. And...Amelia...she was real. And Amelia will be replaced by a Jenova creep, if she isn't already, if I don't do something. Perhaps...perhaps _this_ is my point for existing now. Not much to look up to, but I will not stand for lives being ruined because of my foolishness. Amelia was beyond just a friend to me...she was like...my sister, and I know that somewhere out there, she is struggling to maintain an identity. Hopefully better than Cloud.

Yes. I may not have anything really left for myself, since my family will be better off without me. And my friends in that other world have probably moved on by now, it's been months. There's nothing really left for me in this world. Except rescuing Amelia from herself...or, in the worst case, stopping her from murdering endless victims.

"Heeellllloooooo???? Are you alive!?" Yuffie's in my face, waving her hands around. I blink with surprise, snapping out of a trance.

"Sorry," I mutter sheepishly,"Just...tired. Is, um, Marlene alright?"

Tifa exchanged a glance with Cloud, who was resting against the door frame and eyeing me strangely. "Yes, she's fine, she said you saved her from Shinra grunts. You held out pretty well," She smiled at me, and I finally feel a little more at ease.

"Yeah, but you don't have any awesome ninja skills, like me, so that's why you didn't stand a chance," grins Yuffie cheekily, posing dramatically while munching on a cookie. Cloud rolls his eyes and Tifa chuckles quietly.

Chaos snorts in the back of my head, but I smile slightly, resting my arm up on my knee, figuring it would be best to feign ignorance. "You're a ninja?"

She beams, "The one and only, Awesome Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi, White Rose of Wutai!" She does an extravagant twirl here and falls flat on her butt. "Ow! Oh yeah, your claw scratched me _nasty_ earlier. You should be careful with that thing!"

I blink in confusion, just noticing that the gauntlet isn't on my arm. No wonder it feels funny. "I'm so sorry," I begin quickly, noticing the scratch marks on her, but Tifa assures me Yuffie is exaggerating, and that I had been thrashing about in a nightmare. She says the "nightmare" part hesitantly, as though she suspects something, and is looking at me for an explanation. Like she knows something's up.

I sigh, looking down, and readjust my self on the bed, refusing to answer her unspoken question. I don't want to even really admit to myself that I could be a danger to everyone's health if they are kind and allow me to stay and join AVALANCHE. I could just ignore the problem until something forces me to address it, like I always do. Then again, there was that incident with Marlene...

I'll tell them later. Just let me be an anime fangirl with her dreams coming true for one night.

Cloud finally speaks, getting right to the point to fill the silence before Yuffie claims it,"So...what's your name? How and why exactly did you fight those guards? And what can you tell us?"

Ah. He knows something's odd about me too. I can sense the question is meant to test me. Of course, I also feel silly for not introducing myself yet. Gawd, am I really losing it? I don't even seem polite anymore for basic conversation.

Oh God. I'm turning exactly into Vincent. Hell no, nonono...

Well, that can easily be corrected, I'll just act like my old self. As hard as that may be.

"Jenni Allens, Mr. Strife, and I guess you could say I'm kinda obsessed with kids. I just wanted to help, she seemed upset about something when she ran out. I'm...I don't really have a home anymore. And I'm on a little...personal mission...to help a friend. I did have a gun, but I think the Shinra guys took it."

I think Cloud either took the hint I didn't really want to say much more, or decided that was it to my story. From the awkward gaze for a moment, I'm suspicious about my first hunch being right.

But he merely sighed, "Please just call me Cloud. Mr. Strife sounds weird."

Yuffie laughed and began teasing him, eventually joking, "How about Mr. Chocobo Butthead? That suits you great!"

We laugh at Cloud's expense, who takes it pretty well. I start to go all introvert again as we head downstairs for some soda, and hopefully bed soon after a little short chat, before morning, since it's already past 2:30 am.

The kid's alright, and I've been semi-welcomed. Perhaps things won't be too bad after all.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_++_+_+_+_+

About twenty minutes later, after a bit more awkward introduction/explanation on my part, completely avoiding the whole "I-turned-into-a-creepy-demon" part, Tifa assuring my concerned questioning that Marlene was fine, and Cloud giving me polite smiles but starting to weird me out with his quiet staring while Yuffie talked non-stop about stupid Shinra people and which materias were the most entertaining to use on them, my stomach gurgled.

Just slightly awkward. But Tifa, being absolutely sweet and motherly, immediately dashed off to get all of us snacks.

Cloud politely declined, saying something to Tifa in her ear with a smile before turning in for the night.

Since I suddenly felt extremely tired - the events of the day more of a reason than it being late, since I was used to pulling all-nighters or half-nighters at the dorm - so I just kinda zoned out while Yuffie yapped away, nodding when necessary. Tifa soon came to rescue me from having my ears fall off, beholding a tray of cookies.

However, Yuffie's constant chatter was only _slightly_ hindered by the cookies.

...I think I eventually just fell asleep. For like a few minutes.

When I woke up from the doze, Yuffie was remarkably silent. Which made me think something was troubling her. But I didn't say anything. Footsteps from Tifa began coming down the hall from the kitchen, and Yuffie immediately replaced the smile back onto her face.

"Can I have some booze?" Yuffie pleaded with big eyes as Tifa brought in some sandwhiches.

I stared at the food, for some reason not as hungry as I thought. Tifa is about to tell Yuffie that alcohol is bad for her or something, when I say slowly, "Actually, I'd like some too. Please."

Tifa gives me a scrutinizing look. "Are you old enough?"

I raise an eyebrow at Yuffie, who is already chuggin something suspicious down.

"Depends on what the date is."

"October 8. Why?"

I slump in the chair, staring with disbelief.

"Bastard had me sleeping past my birthday..." I growl under my breath.

"What?!"

"...nothing." Damn I need some booze now. I am so severely pissed.

* * *

~+~+~+~+~**The World According to Yuffie Kisaragi, the White Flower of Wutai and Gaia's Most Feared and Talented Ninja Extraordinaire, **(who can also kick some major ass!)~+~+~+~+~+~

YAY! Me n' Boobs n' Mr. Chocobo Butthead (I'm gonna tease him with that one alot now, nyuk nyuk!) are finally done babysitting pointy-finger-girl, and celebrating with booze!

Or, we kinda were. Boobs and Chocobo Butt went off to make out for a sec (ewwww!!!) while Weird Emo Chick zombied out. Okay, maybe not really make out, but geez, when will he damn propose to her? Honestly...

Wait, what? Cookies! YAY! HEAVEN! Chocolatey gooey goodness, come to mama...Mmmmm....

Ah, I love sugar highs...oh good Emo Chick's kinda awake again and the couple are no longer kissy kissy. I wish I had boyfriend...I wonder if Reno likes me? He's a nice guy to hang out with, and we both share some of the same interests. Chocolate, materia, being clowns to cheer up everyone else, kicking bad guy ass, (even though the Turks were technically our enemy before, but hey, all's fair in love and war, or whatever that saying is, right?) and materia, and food, and materia, and movies, and materia...

Oh wait, the materia part's mostly just me. What can I say? I've always loved it since I was just a tiny little kid, so shiiiiinnnnyyyyy...

I remember when my mom gave me my first materia, a glowing green one.

_"Oooh! What's that Mommy?"_

_"This is a beginner's Fire Materia. You can practice using it and then it will get stronger, just like your little ninja feet!"_

_"Hahaha, that tickles Mommy! But why is it green if it's got red fire in it?"_

I miss my mother. I don't really remember much about her, except a couple of times, like that one, and walking around. She was very pretty, and had long hair. I know she wore the traditional kimonos, but she encouraged me to run around in shorts while I was able to get away with it. (And she sometimes would put her feet in the water when nobody was around to see us in the beautiful walks through the private royal forests.) I wonder if she'd approve of me "running around like a scamp with no sense of proper dignity and respect for royal duty", as stupid Da- I mean Godo, so kindly put it.

Grrrr....

Wait a sec - why did Mom give me a fire materia to play with as a kid? Hahahahaha....yes, she was obviously a great influence. On his nicer days, Godo would tell me that I had my mother's spirit. If that's so, I'm sure she's proud and watching over me.

Tifa just came in with the sandwhiches (finally! I'm starved!) and gave me a concerned look.

"Just something in my eye," I mumble, and smile broadly. That works on everybody. Well, almost everyone. Not Tifa though. But she doesn't bug me about it any more, because I cleverly interrupt with my best puppy face, "Can I have some booze?"

Tifa scowls and opens her mouth to say something when Emo Chick suddenly decides to wake from the living dead.

"Actually, I'd like some too. Please."

Blink.

She looks as old as me! That can't be legal...ah what the hell, hehehe, Tifa's distracted, so I'll just take that as a yes...ooh this one's yummy! Glug, glug, glug...

Huh, wha? Ah, Teef's just harrassing the Emo Chick for her birthday and getting weird replies, nothing new there.

But now she wants me to leave the kitchen for a sec. Awwwww, come on Boobs, I was just getting started with the awesome alchohol burns!

Tifa brings me through the kitchen to the little living room where Cloud is being lazy on the couch. Sloooooob.

"Yuffie, you've got energy, and the rest of us want to go to bed - could you keep an eye on Jenni while we go catch some shut eye?"

I smirk, purposely glancing between her and Cloud. Waggle the eyebrows for added effect. Heheheheh, ah that blush is priceless. But wouldn't you know it, Cloud completely misses that. Damn.

Ah shit, don't kill me Teef! AAaaaahhhh!

Ah, the Butt of the Chocobo decides to speak! Thank you for saving my life from your crazy girlfriend who can't take a joke.

"Yes, Yuffie, see if you can get any information out of her. There's some things she's not telling us."

Ah geez, thanks. Nice to know I have to do the work while you guys go sleep. I get clawed, listen to the most strange sleeptalk ever, and now do interrogating at 2:30 in the fucking morning...

Tifa sighs, "And you're free to help yourself to the alcohol, Yuffie. Though I'm sure you would have anyways."

Of course! And the cookies as well, before Cloud eats 'em all later, the pig. He never gets in trouble for eating all of the cookies, or even worse, takes the last one from the cookie jar. (We've fought for it before. He usually wins, but then I'll sneak real fast the God-sent treat ninja-style from right out under his nose, ahahaha...) He never gets in trouble for eating it either, Tifa just blushes and acts all cheesy and delighted that he loves her cooking.

I wish I could cook. Maybe guys like you better if you cook? Cid told me once in way more swears possible than I thought could be fit into one sentence that I could burn toast.

Actually I do.

But how did we get on this again?

Oh yeah, gotta go babysit some more and do sneaky questioning and snarf cookies. And Beer. Heheheh.

So Teef and Cloud are in bed (hopefully not the same one, nyuk, nyuk) and I come back to the dining room, with a big armful of alcohols to choose from (hahaha, this chick wants alcohol, may make getting answers easier) and a handful of cookies.

"I was starting to wonder where you went," Emo Chick smiles. She looks tired.

Oh yeah it's really late. Well I meant for like another reason. Hmm. Maybe Cloud's actually onto something.

"Just gettin' you something to choose from. Whaddaya like?" I generously offer this Jenni person the most alcoholic drinks Tifa has available. Hehehe.

She rubs her forehead and stares at the bottles. "Something that will knock me out but doesn't taste nasty."

Geez.

"Well," I stand one of my feet up on the chair in an attempt to wrestle the top of the bottle off, I personally like this one, because it gives you happy fuzzy feelings real quick, and tastes like more fruity sugary stuff than the others."

Finally! Cap's off!

I watch giddily as she takes her first sip, aaaand -

"-Pbbbt-cough-hack-"

...I guess this is what I get for sitting right across from an alchohol newbie. Great, I'm all wet, yuck!

"...-cough, ugh- Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Hahaha, she looks so embarrassed, and just jumped up with the most energy I've seen her have yet to get me napkins, wow. At least we've improved from the Vinny-ness now...wait, I wonder if the claw and the eyes...hmmmm...Definitely good questioning stuff there.

I dab off the little bit sprayed on my face. "It's all right, most people don't like this kind. Plus it was your a noob at this - I'll just get you something less crazy until you get used to the taste."

Jenni nods, and tries the next thing I give her very slowly, as if afraid it will blow up in her face like a firecracker. (Nyuk, nyuk, I'll have to try that on Cid later, it'll be so funny to see him cussing about that one!)

Ah, a little better this time. At least we aren't spraying.

I start chugging out of a bottle - to encourage her, of course, hahaha.

It seems this mechanism worked. Jenni's looking at me like I'm crazy, then started trying to catch up with me. Ooooh this will be an interesting night. It's a good thing this ninja has a high tolerance level, and she's a newbie - that way I don't have to worry about having more function to ask questions while she's out...

I chug faster til the whole contents have been drained, wipe off my mouth with the back of my arm, and smile boldly with triumph, clanging an empty bottle hard on the tabletop.

Jenni purses her lips in a pout. Stares at me. The bottle. Her little empty cup. The other bottles.

And grabs the nearest one with a grin at me.

Ooooh! IT IS SO ON!

* * *

...About 2 bottles each of alchohol consumption later...

Geez, even I'm starting to get light-headed and dizzy now. She should be asleep from this stuff by now, if she truly is new at this! Yuffie Kisaragi never loses a drinking contest, questioning or not.

But still, what the fuck?

...Oh no.

Well, I have figured out one thing for sure, without even asking her anything.

She definitely was a test subject.

With Mako.

Because she hasn't shown any signs of alchohol effects yet.

...hehehe, scratch that. She just fell out of her chair.

But she should have a loooooong time ago.

Ah well, maybe we can start the questions now, so Teef and Cloud don't kill me.

Anyways, I WON! I WON! Boogey time!

A hand appears on the table top, feeling around. Finds a bottle. And drags it down under the table.

HEY!

Damn it. I grab another booze - a little too quickly, wobbling the chair, and soon end up joining my rival under the table with a crash. Glug, glug, glug, glug....

* * *

...About 8 total consumed bottles of alchohol later...

Cloud woke up to a very disturbing commotion.

It sounded like screaming or something, and he heard glass shatter from downstairs.

Where Yuffie and that Remnant's friend were.

Instantly Cloud's battle instincts snapped on. He swung off the edge of the bed, grabbed the gleaming Buster sword at the foot of his bed, bolted down the stairs into the dining room, expecting the worst-

"Iiiiiiiim toooo sexxaaaayyy fooor myyy caaaaaaat-"

Singing obnoxiously out of key, the two girls were dancing on top of the bar countertop, swaying quite dangerously, and holding onto each other for support. There were broken glass shards from empty bottles all over the floor around them.

Tifa dashed in to the doorway only moments after Cloud, fists raised in preparation for a battle stance, but her arms slowly dropped to her sides, and the expression of incredulity on her face matched Cloud's remarkably.

Tifa had a feeling not much real information was discussed, from the mess left behind. Where there wasn't glass or spilled alchohol, cookie crumbs covered the empty spaces on the floor.

Yuffie noticed their presence first, and unabashedly waved both arms wildly at them, yelling loudly and with a drunken slur, "Heeeeeeeey! Yous guys wanna daaaance partaaaaay!?"

Cloud was torn between blowing his top and just walking back to bed in silence. Being Cloud, of course, he opted for the latter, his sword hanging limply at his side.

Tifa was about to scold Yuffie but only got partway through a sentence when she was interrupted by Jenni.

"Oooh! Oooh! Ah gut one! 'Ow bout," Jenni inhaled a deep breath of air, teetering unsteadily without Yuffie's arms for steadying herself, "BOOOOOOB THE BUUUIIIILLLDUUUURRRRR-"

Yuffie joined in with her, and Tifa covered her ears, trying to shout over the din unsuccessfully.

"CAAAAAAN HEEEEEE FIIIIIIX IIIIIIT!!!!???? YEEEEEES HEEEE CAAAAAAAA- AHHHH!!!!!"

The pair rather ungracefully toppled off the edge of the small counter (it was remarkable that they had managed to remain up there for so long) and crash landed to the floor.

"Oooooow," moaned Yuffie.

"Zzzzzzz," replied Jenni, facedown, even though Yuffie had landed partly on top of her.

Tifa sighed. She went back to retrieve Cloud (damn him, he couldn't just walk off to bed and leave her to deal with these two drunken bums at 4:30 am) as well as the first aid pack, since it was likely that they might have got shards on them.

* * *

Rutilus: Aaaaand that's all I've got for now, but next chapter we start immediately with Shannon (freaking out and being confused XD), and the chapter after that will be Amelia (being pissed and kicking ass). W00t! And of course romance is gonna start getting in, more so for Amelia than the rest of us (grrr lucky XD) And I still havent met Vinny yet! ;_; And that romance won't even start for a bazillion chapters! *sobs*

Chaos: *rolls eyes* Get your butt working then! You just said you won't even show up until three chapters from now!

Rutilus: Okay, okay, geez. And by the way, Chaos is my muse, in charge of the whole romance and violence section. I just own the plot. Not the stuff Squeenix does. (Tho I wished I owned Vinny.)

W00t. ^_^ By the way, if you have any suggestions, be sure to let me know! Like if the genre is still accurate and whatnot. I would've put Romance as one of the two genres, but since I put the two characters as Vincent and Sephiroth for the search engine, I didn't want people to think this was a VincentXSephiroth yaoi fic O_o

But as the fic goes on, I may think about changing it from its current "Hurt/Comfort" and "Friendship" status. Idk, whatever, you guys can give me your opinion if you want. ^_^


	13. Time Warp Encounters

HI!!!! Im alive! XD Kind of. So...I know I promised that this chapter would have been completed and posted within a week, and now its been like 3 or more...but hey, its here! XD

Though, this is only the first like 3/4 of the Shannon chapter -__-

At this rate, all of these will be two-part chapters! Oy!

Ah well, I figure you guys will be happy if something is at least posted XD Ill post another link to a fanart picture or something next chapter. :)

I also want to say THANKYOU!!! for the #1,254 VIEWS!!!! Wow!

Songs for Inspiring this time: (these kinda overlap since i listen to one song for hours at a time sometimes, tho I obviously have not been working on writing during all that time ^^;)

Intro - Love is Gonna Save Us by Benny Benassi

Shannon - Redemption by Gackt

Shannon - Pokerface by Lady Gaga

* * *

The sun had barely begun its ascent. Unlike Humanity, birds had already been chirping for nearly an hour in their daily greeting to their golden master, urging it to move on higher, and coat the lightening blue sky with yellow paint. Most humans would not be up at this ungodly hour, unless they were students cramming for an all-niter, or just plain being idiots on the internet.

Well, except for one group of people that were quite out of place, for more reasons than one. Such as the four individuals near the courtyard of the campus library.

_Thump, thump._

Heavy boots trudged along the granite pathways, armed with guns that contained slots, something glowing in them. Dark blue uniforms with black stripes, black vests and caps.

"Damnit, stupid girl-"

"Keep searching! She can't have wandered far," an older voice barked back at the soldier grunt.

Another one of the lower-ranked soldiers halted suddenly in his tracks, and quietly cleared his throat. The other three men turned to follow his gaze.

At the bottom of the hill, an arm was sticking out from under a bench.

The lucky soldier was given a complimentary nod from his Lieutenant. "Good work," the Lieutenant murmured from behind his helmet (a note of higher ranking), and led the small military formation slowly down the hill. About halfway down, he lowered a strange, pointier-shaped gun, aiming for the exposed arm, and looked in a red infrared DNA scanner screen on his weapon.

On the screen, the text, [Specimen Identified - Match, Cetra], blinked a few times, then analytical charts rushed madly across the screen performing calculations, but the Lieutenant paid them no heed for the moment.

"We got a match, boys," he growled triumphantly, and his squad members silently soaked in the pride of perhaps getting promoted.

_Click._

"Say good night, bitch," the older man murmured coldly from behind his helmet.

_-Pzzzzing-_

The arm twitched momentarily, and a small needle stuck out from it.

Quickly, the soldiers dashed over to the poor form, and unceremoniously dragged the female's body out, and plunked it on top of the bench. There was dried blood around her chin from where a recent gash had cut it.

The Lieutenant frowned suddenly at his dart gun's scanner, the screen beeping at him with the analyzed results, flashing green. But...

"What the hell? Her energy rates...they should be higher! She's supposed to be a Cetra, damnit! The DNA is correct! Is this some kinda fucked up trick?"

The soldiers grew nervous as their superior started swearing his head off in confusion.

The soldier who had complained earlier, however, grew a twisted smile, staring down lucidly at the vulnerable woman. "Eh, whatever...I say we have a bit of fun with her first."

The other two soldiers looked at each other and stepped back from him without a word, just as the Lieutenant drew out a small pistol and shot the incompetent man point-blank in the head.

The Lieutenant slowly pulled off his helmet and blew the smoke from his pistol before straightening from his crouching position to kick the lifeless body with his boot. Then turned his head slowly to glower at the remaining two soldiers.

"Anyone _else_ got something to say?"

"Actually, **I** do."

The two grunts looked at each other with wide eyes, then realized it was someone else. Immediately all three tensed into defensive fighting positons, standing back to back, searching around with wild glances for the enemy. The soldier who had originally spotted the Cetra did not, unfortunately, manage to pinpoint the attacker with the same skill.

_Fsssh-_

The last soldier nearly leaped out of his skin in fear when he felt a cold wind as the intruder whizzed by him. Almost simultaneously, his companion's body crumpled to the ground, leaving a deeply contrasting dark red blood trail along the grass.

The Lieutenant was firing like mad, wasting a ton of ammo since their enemy seemed to have the agility of a SOLDIER.

The last grunt gasped fearfully, turning around in a semi-circle with his rifle out, breathing quickly.

"Sorry."

A wide sword suddenly pierced through the man's abdomen, killing him instantly.

Then the swordsman turned to face the Lieutenant.

"I'll give you five seconds to talk. If you don't tell me who you're working for, or what the hell you've done to her by then," he waved his sword a little, to send the message across.

The Lieutenant, although quite anxious about being the last one standing, brazenly shouted, "You're not going to steal my glory! This freak is my captive," here he stepped in front of the half-Cetra, as though that might offer protection to him somehow, "and she's going back to Shinra!"

The raven haired swordsman sighed and mumbled to the ground, "Should of known..." He looked sharply at the deluded fool in front of him. "Five..."

The Lieutenant suddenly grew desperate - anything, anything to save his ass-

"Four..." Although this was a terrible situation, the swordsman did find it comical how his target was acting so jittery. Took a step forward.

"_Three_..." He made sure to draw this number out almost lazily, so that maybe the man would change his mind.

But the expression on said Lieutenant's face went dark. Looked at the Cetra. Back at the cocky swordsman. Smirk.

The swordsman's blue eyes widened in alarm as the Lieutenant cooly pointed his gun at the woman's chest.

Mako eyes narrowed dangerously for a moment, then -

"HOLY GAIA, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!"

The Lieutenant, puzzled momentarily that his enemy was more frightened by something else other than him about to blow this freak girl's heart out, glanced in the general direction that was pointed to find this threat, in case he should be worried as well.

_Thunk._

His head was ripped roughly off by cool metal within a fraction of a second, sailing a good thirty feet down the rest of the hill.

"...Bastard," the swordsman spat, wiping sprayed blood off of his cheek in disgust. Then grinned wryly,"I can't believe he fell for that."

He sighed and scratched his head, turning to smile fondly and with relief at the unconscious brunette. "Can't seem to stay out of trouble, can ya?"

* * *

_Ignorant bliss. Just existing, being. An ethereal, soft, and enchanting melody, soothing her. Shannon recognized this now to be the nurturing presence of the Planet, and it made her feel protected, safe. Her worries dispelled for the moment. _

_Although, of course, she was still completely aware that something was unnatural about floating in blinding white space. And closing your eyes making no difference._

_Where _was_ here, anyways?_

_What happened? She remembered resting under that bench, and most likely fell asleep. But then - something had to have happened. She had a nasty gut feeling about it - and it was definitely not normal for her to dream about floating around like that emo Cloud does. _

_And where were Amy and Jenni if Aerith was right? What did she mean by 'they could be in danger'?_

At this point, Shannon felt consciousness creeping back, perhaps because the voices were failing to keep her fearful mind from drifting to negative questions anymore.

The numbing, white vastness everywhere was soon replaced by feeling and blackness; with it returned none-too-gently the resurgence of burning in her chest and legs from running so much, even though she had been asleep for a good while. It was extremely quiet, and she was resting on some hard surface, with something soft above her stomach. She reasoned she must be indoors, since the sounds of people, cars, birds, and the wind were not present.

That spot on her chin that was sure to have scarred by now stung fiercely almost as though she had just slammed into the bench all over again. Shannon groaned aloud, waiting for it to die down. When it did, she suspected some itchy substance was stuck to her chin, most likely dried blood.

Shannon had every intention of scratching the itch, but her hand apparently did not.

Neither, for that matter, did the rest of her arm.

In fact, it appeared that her whole body, from her toes to her eyelids, was completely paralyzed.

....

**FUUUUCK!!!!!**

+++about ten minutes of panicking later, when she calmed down to a not-so-heart-attack-worthy-level+++

Okay, think brain, think think think think-

Shannon was startled out of her inner tirade by two murmuring voices which grew louder as heavy foot steps approached. Desperate, Shannon listened for any clues, catching the words "Health Services Building", "protection", and "safe".

Something along the lines of desperate couples ran through her mind for a moment.

Gawd, she was in the most frightening situation, perhaps even captive by crazy police people and her pervy mind's still going at a bazillion miles an hour.

"...something...gotta show you," a male voice was just beyond a boundary (from behind a door perhaps?).

Said door opened, thus quickly immediately increasing the volume of before-mentioned speakers, letting in two pairs of feet, one light and quick, the other carelessly thumping about in heavy boots.

"...but you're not even supposed to be here, I -" a frantic young woman was protesting hysterically before breaking off suddenly.

_Oh great, a lover's quarrel. Just what I wanted to listen to right now._

"Who?...But she?...I? How?" the female whispered shakily.

"_That's_ part of the reason I _definitely_ had to follow you, and let's just say the nurse freaked out on me alot seeing her like that." The young man who responded was probably in his early to mid twenties, and although the two were obviously upset about something, possessed a light, jovial hint to his words.

_Nurse? Health Services Building? Oh sweet! Some fellow students must have found me all chin-bashed and got me to the campus care facility! But then why can't I move?!_

Timid foot steps drew nearer to Shannon's location.

And she felt her cheek get randomly poked.

"Ohmygodthisissoweird," the woman blurted out in a breathless exhale, sounding quite shaken up. "You got any Cure?"

_Weird?! Who the hell are you calling weird, lady? I'm not poking _you_ in the head!_

_Wait, cure? _

Did she have a bad disease or something?

"Yeah, I stole some off of those bastards that tried to beat y- uh, her, up."

_...WHAT?!_

A slight pause in which there was the sound of rustling clothing, like one digging through pockets.

"The drugs should wear out soon, they just knocked her out. She'll probably be up in about fifteen minutes. That nurse didn't find any poison, but…"

"I'll double check," the woman whispered softly.

_What drugs?_ First this stressed woman insults her, then some hottie dude is boasting about he loves being a thief and claiming that he stopped frat gangs from attacking her!?

Shannon was very, very confused right now.

The presence of warmth from another human's body heat approached her right side.

"'Kay, here goes nothing," murmured the woman's voice, now much closer, with a higher pitch of nervousness.

_What _are_ you talking about? _

"No pressure or anything." Shannon could practically hear the hottie's grin. Curiously, she tried to guess what he looked like.

"Shut it you."

Cool fingers tentatively felt Shannon's sore chin near the mark where the inevitable scar was, then the hand pressed gently on her forehead. Instantly, a very weird, cool sensation spread across her body, predominantly in her face, remarkably similar to the relief of drinking cool water on a summer day, except different. Like a cross between wearing cold sunscreen while on a high from having way too many sugared Coffee Cooladas, and dancing to techno on a DDR mat for two hours. And perhaps it was just from fatigue, but Shannon could have sworn she saw green light faintly from behind her closed lids.  
This sensation increased as the hand on her head applied more pressure, before the woman pulled away with a small sigh of relief and contentment.

It was very, very strange. And yet pleasant. Her body did not ache anymore, and the spot on her chin that had been burning had now ceased to do so.

**_Wow._**

_Oh._

_My._

_Shittoosie._

_What was that!?_

But now she felt oh so tired again, perhaps from those "drugs" if these oddballs were telling the truth. Her brain was too dead to think, to form any explanation for the weird handclamp-sugar-high-acid-trip. Or why the police people had been around the campus chasing her.

Wait, did she just hear the word "Shinra"?!

Okay, definitely something wrong here. Shannon's first guess was that she had been thinking too much about Final Fantasy 7 and doodling it for her own good. This was just a weird dream.

But…falling down the hill hadn't been. That hurt.

Which meant that…the past day, with her being a Cetra…these people…

_Oh my god._

Then Shannon realized they were still talking, she had been completely zoned out.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't tell you…I have to do this. Even if the worst could happen." The woman's words were stronger than her voice allowed, revealing a resigned sadness underneath.

"I won't let you. Not alone," the man responded forcefully, with – _was that a growl?_ "I can't - I can't lose you again."

Odd pause.

Then he continued, with renewedhumor, "Besides, we still have that date. "

A forced laugh, half sob. "This is so ironic…"

"Hey, it's okay…it's alright," a patting noise amidst the sniffles.

Shannon suddenly felt like an intruder to be invading on a private moment like this. Yet she was still very curious as to what was going on. Perhaps that "cure" was "Cure" materia earlier? It certainly would be exciting to think that materia existed. Not like she really had a choice but to just lay there and listen anyways.

"Just don't…don't die on me, okay?" the woman squeaked timidly.

Geez, this sounded crazy enough to be in a Square Enix plot.

"Heh, I'm not planning on it. I'm more worried about you…I've already lost one person, I don't want to go through that again. I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not – I swore to protect you, didn't I?

Another sob/laugh in response.

It was getting harder for Shannon to stay awake. Perhaps the drugs had to get worse at the end before they got better? But why now!? This might have to do with what Aerith was talking about!

"Besides," the Thief Hottie murmured lowly with venom, "…I don't want you to get speared by that psycho Jenova bitch."

Miss-I-Poke-People retorted furiously, almost desperately, "Don't call her that! We've already been over this! She's not him! This is completely different!" Almost a shaky plea by the end.

If Shannon was a cartoon character, she'd definitely have question marks dancing about her head right now.

"No…it's not. Believe me, I know what you're going through. My best friend-"

"No! No! It won't, it can't!"

"She already tried. But let's not fight about this, okay? We have to follow Reeve's plan and separate if this is gonna work, and…just in case, you know, anything happens-"

Shannon's heart jumped at the familiar name.

"…Okay, but I still think you're wrong. She can be saved. I'll find a way, I-"

And she was suddenly silenced. It took Shannon a minute to realize why.

Damn lucky couples kissing five feet from the girl who's unconscious AND single. No fair.

But the next thing Shannon knew, the drugs had finally kicked in their after-effect, and she was back to sleeping again.

* * *

The room was empty, save for a lightly snoring girl and the quiet murmuring of a television left on.

_"'...and later tonight we will bring you our update on both the Mexican border conflict and the EU's strategy plan on approaching North Korea's missile launching fiasco._

_And now for a special report live from_ _Dr. Helmut Jenkner of the Space Telescope Science Institute as he addresses an audience at the Austrian Embassy.'_

_'Thanks Jim. As you can see, it appears to possibly be a runaway cousin of the Perseid Meteor shower family, which it left about 13 million years ago. What is unique about this comet, however, is that degree of its angle seemed to switch dramatically overnight, for no reason, and the velocity of it also increased tenfold... I would highly suggest that this not be overlooked. Although it is not very likely, it is possible that this meteor with a radius of 27 miles could not only come at 5.7 miles per second, or roughly 20,000 miles per hour, towards our planet and crash, but could also potentially destabilize the magnetic poles and cause a "smokescreen effect" upon collision, polluting the atmosphere, and block out the sun...'_"

_"Rima." _A voice like tinkling bells spoke gently, trying to gain the sleeping girl's attention.

....

_"Rima?"_

A loud snore was the only gain of the heavenly flowergirl's efforts.

A slightly impatient sigh. _"Shannon?"_

Shannon's fingers twitched in her sleep.

_"Alright, we'll have to try something else then..."_

* * *

Shannon was catching up on sleep - staying up until past 2:30 reading, waking up at after 4 to the fire alarm, and then sleeping under a bench on cold ground with a bloodied face does not do well for rest.

And perhaps because of this, she hadn't had any weird warning Cetra dreams yet.

Just that lovely peaceful darkness.

Until now, of course.

Now there was a green tendril of light forming out of nowhere. It brushed past Shannon's arm, feeling warm to the touch. She gasped - was this still a dream?

Quickly the tentacle of celestial light seemed to multiply, swarming around her body, caressing her softly like a lover, and swirling ever faster around her.

Shannon felt a little panicked at first, spinning in a circle, when she realized she was trapped now in a cylinder of rotating emerald strands. A bit hesitantly, the brunette reached out with one hand to touch the hypnotic barrier.

Immediately, her finger tingled from the impact, and her whole body felt a jolt of energy course through it, lighting her senses with stimulation. Simultaneously, the glowing green barrier had exploded outwards into a larger globe shape comprised of zillions of fist-sized shards. The intensity of this strange energy grew brighter and brighter, until even shading her eyes with a shaky hand could not prevent her from being blinded.

When Shannon could open her eyes again, she began to wonder if she was high on some medication. All about her was white, heavenly white - except the ground.

Which was covered with white and yellow lilies.

Shannon smacked her forehead in disbelief.

But it got even better. Somebody was standing back-to-back behind her.

"Hello there, Sleepy."

"Um...I'm gonna take a wild guess - Aeris?"

A giggle from the body behind her. Shannon wondered if it was illegal to turn around to face the silly flowergirl, if she and all her flowers would disappear.

"Yup. You don't wake up very easily," the Cetra continued with a light jingle of gaiety.

Shannon wasn't quite sure how to react to that, and still nervous from the flashing green earlier.

"Now, do you remember any of what you learned from your father's book?"

The bewildered girl twisted a lock of chocolate brown hair in deep thought. "A little...about the history of different important Ancients, and connecting with the Planet's energy so you can use it and stuff, but I'm not sure I get how that works."

Aeris didn't say anything at first. Shannon awkwardly nudged a nearby flower with the stub of her toe.

Her bare toe? Why didn't she have any shoes on? Did she really forget them? And still wearing her purple sweater and jeans from yesterday. At least it wasn't pajamas.

Aeris fidgeted, and stiffened. Shannon got the impression she was listening for something.

When Aeris spoke again, she sounded like she was choosing her words carefully, a bit worried and confused, or resigned. "Well...I think you will have your answer in a minute, Rima. I wish you the best of luck."

Shannon's eyes widened. "Wha-What?! Wait! Don't go!" But when she whipped around, the mysterious flower girl had vanished.

"Please...there is so much I need to ask you..." Shannon whimpered, closing her eyes, and crouching among fading flowers.

And the gentle breeze of a bright churchyard with flowers was replaced with darkness and a howling wind.

When she looked up again, there was that ominous object hanging over the sky, a red-marked moon amidst dark black clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see. When she tentatively lifted her hand to view it side-by-side, the red devil of death was far larger than it by comparison, even at this distance.

**Meteor.**

* * *

Shannon's rescuer from earlier re-entered the room, closing the door quietly behind him carefully so as not to disturb the woman in the bed. The man's blue Mako eyes darted around the room upon hearing voices, then he murmured something under his breath seeing the reporters on the television, and quickly approached said despicable appliance in three strides and switched it off.

The brunette let out a small cry of distress in her sleep, immediately gaining the full attention of the raven haired male. With an expression of concern, he crossed the room to approach her side, noting the close-knitted brows of one in a nightmare, or at least, uncomfortable sleep.

The stranger took off his sword to make more room, and placed it on the tile floor with a soft clink of metal. The bed gave a small sigh as he sat next to the Cetra's body, and watched over her with a soft smile.

There was a brief moment when his right hand hesitated, as though unsure of himself, then he brushed a few strands of unruly hair out of her face, and lightly ran his finger across the new scar that ran from her right cheek across and down her chin. Then touched the one across his own cheek. Her scar would fade to be almost unnoticeable fairly soon, he knew. He knew a lot about her. But that didn't stop him from worrying.

The SOLDIER scratched his head of spiky hair out of habit, glancing at the door forlornly, and with hope. If anyone had walked into the room at that moment, they might have seen the tell-tale shining of fear in those aquamarine eyes. With an annoyed snort, however, the man wiped an eye with the back of his hand and shook his head. He felt, more than heard, the girl against him murmur incoherently in her sleep. Such pink little lips. If only he could -

No. Not yet. That wouldn't do at all, if she awoke.

Although it might be odd if she caught him playing with her hair as well, wouldn't it? He hadn't even realized when he had begun stroking the wisps of brown mane until now. It seemed to be calming the woman in her sleep, though, and not stirring her from slumber yet. So many freckles on that little nose. Would he ever get to tease her about counting them again?

Hah, what would that obnoxious nurse say if she caught him in the same bed as her?

Come to think of it...

Despite himself, he grinned wolfishly. This was probably a very bad idea. But...

Carefully, he leaned over her body, placing one arm on the bed for support, and with the other, continuing to pet her hair. In order to reach her from his current spot, he ended up slightly pressing against the rumpled purple sweater. Not that he minded. He was grateful that her glasses were off at the moment - it made this easier.

He gently inched closer to her face, absorbing every detail, from those ridiculously adorable freckles to her eyelashes. If only her eyes were open. His sigh of warm breath tickled her cheek, and caused the woman to stir beneath him.

Damn. She was about to wake up. Well, he'd already come this close...

* * *

_I am so damn tired of those stupid nightmares,_ Shannon thought miserably. _Why can't I ever get any good dreams? _

She was still only partly awake, with her eyes closed, wishing to go back to sleep for (hopefully) something more pleasant. Maybe something involving a certain Mr. Zack Fair.

The thought made her smile, even in half-way conscious mode.

The blankets seemed to be warmer than she remembered, so perhaps it would be easier to fall back asleep.

Wait. What was _that?_ She felt warmth on her cheek, but didn't recall a heater being near her before.

Shannon inwardly shrugged and would have probably returned to dream world, had she not registered that something was touching her hair. And just when she registered this -

Something pressed lightly against her cheek - did someone just _kiss _her!?

She _must_ be asleep. That dream with Aeris seemed real enough, anything seemed possible now. If she opened her eyes though, would this person disappear, just like the flower girl?

A soft vapory breath moved from her cheek to her ear, and the stranger's low whisper set waves of heat and electricity flying all over. _"Aishiteru, nemutai Shan-neesan."_

Perhaps that _wasn't_ a blanket on top of her. Shannon began to flush. Definitely a dream. Deeeefinitely a dream.

She swore she heard a satisfied "hmp". And the warmth moved from her ear _sooo_ slowly to hovering just over her mouth. Shannon's breath hitched. The man didn't move. If she opened her eyes, he probably would have been looking right into them. So close, that if she wanted to, she could probably kiss him without moving.

A deep, beautiful chuckle. Then the extra warmth over her drifted away. Shannon felt very embarrassed, but a little disappointed. Heavy footsteps attempting to be quiet made their way casually to the other side of the room, where the door was.

Shannon held her breath, listening to see when they left.

The door didn't open for a moment. Then -

"I'll see you later, hot stuff," a teasing male's voice called with a promise, not even trying to be quiet anymore.

Shannon's curiousity couldn't take it anymore. She quickly rolled over and faced the door, just in time to see a black-haired man wink at her before hastily exiting and closing the door.

Shannon's jaw dropped, and she remained seated in a stupor.

_No._

_No that couldn't have been...it wouldn't make sense!_

She touched her cheek, the one he blessed with his presence only a moment before.

_"...**Zack**?"_

After only another short moment of being stunned, the brunette hurriedly untangled herself from the sheets and mad a dash for the door and wrenched it open.

No one down either end of the long hallway. Or any noise.

Shannon's eyebrow twitched, and her eyes were still wide, with one hand clenched over her chest, where her heart was still beating wildly.

_A vision? Another crazy dream? But..._

She stood in the doorway another good ten seconds, with only her nervous breathing to fill the silence, before slowly retreating into her room and closing the door.

She sat in her bed very much confused for a good two minutes before she finally decided to go back to sleep.

After all, if she had was on a realistic dream spree, best not to waste it!

The girl smiled contentedly, thoughts completely on Zack Fair as she drifted back to sleep.

* * *

A/N: * "_Aishiteru, nemutai Shan-neesan_" = I love you, sleepy little/dear/girl "Shan" (Shannon).

OMG i have finally written my first romance scene! ^__^ Whee!

Heh, if you're confused, either re-read that part of the chapter with that "other girl" who was there with Zack, or you can always bug me in the reviews. It will all make complete sense at the end of the story...but that is kinda like a bazillion chapters away ^^;

Plus, there is another half of the chapter that has yet to be posted X_X; sorry 'bout that.

:) Hope you like! I SWEARRRRR the next chapter Shannon will get to FF7 land...

Cloud: You said that LAST time.

Me: . Shhh! Dont let Sephiroth hear you!

Sephiroth: Too late. :J

Me: SHIIIIIT!

^_^ Oh, and thank you to all the people who have reviewed, favorited, or put this on their story alerts. 3 you have my love and virtual internet chocolate cookies!

**cyberelf  
FRAODD  
freakyfan3754  
LovelyIAmNot  
Stacey1447  
xXxDarkShadowWarriorxXx  
Yuna Valentine  
Delphine Pryde  
ersay123  
kitsunkuruoshii  
MegaKiraraLover  
reedzeh  
Violett-Violence  
deathscythe24  
CidAngelsTears  
MsRainey  
Beevo**


	14. Familiar Nemesis

So. This chapter turned out ALOT longer than i expected. :D I should probably write something awe-inspiring here, but lack anything amazing to say at this moment, writing the end of this chapter took alot out of me. Whoo. Inspiration-wise. Drained.

I'll soon be posting on my deviantart account a few new things.

OH AND I HAVE A POLL! XD Finally discovered that thing. Maybe you guys could vote on it? Probably will be a short story. Like three chapters. Yuffie/? but dont know who, a Angst/Romance. Got suggestions?

**Songs used:**

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Music: Theme of CRISIS CORE "Dream and Pride"

Crisis Core FFVII Music - Combat

E Nomine by Wolfen

Mitternacht by E Nomine

* * *

_About 11:30 am..._

Shannon approached the front desk receptionist of the university's health center, still extra-smiley over that dream that had seemed so real of her biggest video game crush. However, she was also confused as to where she went from here. Was she supposed to find those two people who had showed up in her room? Whatever that girl had done, it had made her feel so much better - the bruising and swelling on her face from the impact with the bench had disappeared completely, although there was a scar from the gash that would probably stay. It was amazing she wouldn't need stitches. They also had apparently left her a pair of flip flops, which solved the bare foot problem for the moment.

The brunette knocked timidly on the window of the middle-aged receptionist, who was currently giving her sudoku puzzle an accusing glare. Said receptionist woman jumped with a startled gasp.

"Sorry," Shannon quickly apologized through the glass, "Just thought I should check out or something."

The woman shook her head, pushing the evil puzzle away digustedly. "It's fine hon...let's see, and your name is?"

"Shannon Pearson."

The woman shuffled some papers out of the way to find a clipboard with a sign in sheet on it. Shannon noticed a broken name tag ("_Margie_") resting forgotten by some photos of children and a dog. A beagle.

Shannon smiled, thinking of her own wild "Regal-the-beagle" at home.

Margie-the-receptionist-who-had-a-beagle frowned, pushing up her glasses back into place on her nose. "Hmm, that's strange, you don't seem to be anywhere on our list...just some _Rima_ Pearson-"

Shannon groaned loudly, cursing inwardly at the ceiling, "That's my middle name, but everyone seems to be calling me that lately."

Margie's mouth twitched with a small smile, "Your friends must have put it down as a joke then. Alright, just show me your school ID and you'll be all set."

Shannon dug in her pocket. By some miracle, she actually had the thing for once.

"Alright, you're all set dear, have a good day."

"You too," she responded cheerily, though a bazillion foggy half-formed questions were going in her mind; _who were the people who took me here? Who was that guy? Was that dream with Zack real? Was that guy Zack? Why were they talking about Reeve and Jenova and why did Aeris randomly abandon me? Wait. Aeris...upset...possible Zack flirting..._

Uh oh.

Shannon suddenly had a bad feeling.

How the hell was she going to find out what was going on with Amy and Jenni and those two people who rescued her without Aeris?

"Oh hey, I forgot -" Margie struggled with opening a piece of paper folded a bazillion times into a tiny paper football. "Your friends wanted you to meet up with them, I think. They left this note for you, but I can't understand that gibberish for the likes of me!"

Relieved and excited, Shannon accepted the halfway unfolded paper football, vaguely noticing the curious Cheshire cat grin on the receptionist who was now watching her intently. The note was rather short, but written with two different handwriting styles in various places, with random ink blot smudges. But that wasn't what made her raise an eyebrow. It was the really _odd_ message.

"_Steer clear when tin soldiers and mice do spar. Go play poohsticks. The emerald clock beckons. Your heart will find the road."_

Twitch, twitch.

"What the hell?!" Shannon blurted, causing the receptionist to laugh her head off.

Shannon sheepishly looked between the note and Margie. "I don't get it either...unless-" Shannon scrutinized the note again. If the strangers were working for Reeve, and possibly thus either for AVALANCHE or the Turks or something like that, then they would want to keep a message secret. So-

"...maybe it's code..." Shannon murmured aloud, never looking up from the wrinkled paper. The middle-aged woman's chuckles finally died down, and she shook her head disbelievingly at the silly quirks of young people.

"Well, do you think you can crack it? And what's this 'pooh sticks'?"

Shannon laughed, "Well, you know Winnie the Pooh? Where they all throw the sticks over one side of a bridge over water and basically run to the other side to see which comes out first?"

Margie smiled warmly at the picture of the kids and the dog, "Oh, oh yeah, I forgot all about that. Well you have fun with that code of yours, and good luck!"

Shannon grinned, "Thanks."

* * *

A short while later, the brunette had wandered off into the forest-lined paths of the middle of the campus, heading towards the bridge by the art building she practically _lived_ in for her major. Why?

To play pooh sticks, of course. She had nothing better to do, and it might give her some hints.

But the first thing Shannon noticed when she had entered this more woodsy part of the campus was how alive she suddenly felt - like she had just come out of a spa or something. Not that she'd ever been to a spa yet, she'd heard they were amazing though, and she completely planned on going to one, it sounded like lots of fun and-

**_-Fwoom-_**

Shannon, startled, stopped completely in her tracks to look up. Jesus Christ that was a low flying plane. Wait. It looked kind of funny - it was hard to tell, with the blinding sun in the way, but the shape had seemed irregular-

The amazing spa feeling dissipated, followed by cascades of whispers. Shannon whirled about, but found no people nearby. Strangely enough, it was as though a whole forest of people was whispering to her-

Or rather, the whole **forest**.

This whole being part Cetra thing was starting to creep her out.

Shaking her head, Shannon bent down to pick up another stick to throw over the bridge into the gurgling stream.

_"...weapon..."_

Shannon froze. Oh, that was that weird voice of the Planet.

"What?" She asked, staring up at the sky, at the trees.

"...Child...you must...defend yourself..."

_Ah, well at least now the messages from the Planet voice are starting to sound clearer,_ Shannon thought.

But people don't need to defend themselves with weapons unless they're in danger - were more of those creeps who chased her around campus nearby?

Shannon bit her lip, searching around for something she could use if she got attacked. She didn't see anyone right now, and if they had a gun, she'd probably be as good as dead, but maybe she could get a nice pointy stick -

A warm presence behind her seemed to be calling silently.

Curious, Shannon turned around, to come face-to-face - or rather, bark - with a very tall aspen tree. Without thinking, she slowly placed a hand on the trunk, and a beautiful chorus immediately sang only for her ears, silent to the rest of the world.

Shannon gasped, taking her hand off the tree. The forest was silent again. She stole a glance around to make sure no one was around, then slowly wrapped her arms to reach part way around the trunk. The gentle, soothing melody returned again, filling her with an indescribable inner peace; the holy music of Gaia. She suddenly understood that the tree was, in its own way, _talking to her_. It was the most surreal feeling - and she, a Cetra, was basically the parent or guardian for the tree - for those flowers, for this whole forest - for the whole...Planet.

And she was the last one who could care for it.

Shannon listened intently, breathing deeply with her eyes closed, and slowly slid down the base of the tree, as tears began to fall down quietly from her cheeks.

She felt so alone.

The breeze picked up, causing the aspen and many of the other nearby trees to drop cool leaves on her. It felt reassuring somehow, and Shannon couldn't help but believe it was no coincidence. She rested with her back against the base of the aspen, and looked up into its branches.

"Thank you," the Cetra whispered.

A few minutes of peace, and she slowly began to fall asleep to the lull of the mysterious tune only an Ancient would ever be able to appreciate. But the Planet's voice returned to her head without warning.

"Hurry, dear Child, for you are our last! It is time to go where you are needed most."

Shannon jolted awake. _Wow, reception's really good when you lean against a tree._

"_The enemy soon draws near. Arm yourself and descend to the waters_," the voice urged hurriedly.

"With what?!" Shannon yelped desperately, leaping to her feet.

There was a pause. Then humming of the earth, and the aspen the source of it all, almost like it was begging -

"But..." Shannon muttered with shock.

_I can talk to trees, and now trees are telling me to hurt them by ripping off branches. Yup, I'm definitely going insane._

Whether she had approached the tree of her own free will, she would never know. But she was soon talking to the aspen again, despite herself, asking why she couldn't just use a dead branch, as though the tree were suddenly her best friend in the world who was begging to be given assisted suicide. The comfort tremors passed from the core energies of the tree into her body, both allieving her fears and answering her question.

The energy of a live tree was similar to materia's potential, at least for a Cetra. And unlike a dead branch, a live branch could contain a part of that power.

"...Okay..."Shannon murmured, and reached for a nearby branch of vibrant, toothed green leaves that Nature had so delicately crafted.

**_-Crack- _**A moment in which the Cetra could feel the music hesitate on its notes, so similar to the way a human flinches when inflicted with pain.

"...Thank you," Shannon smiled apologetically, patting the trunk once more, before quickly heading down the edge of the hill into the river.

The surface of the water quickly covered her flip flops and went almost up to her knees with freezing cold water. As luck would have it, one of her professors happened to be crossing - or rather, stumbling- across the bridge at that moment.

_Shit shit shit don't look over here keep walking-_

The older man, unfortunately, just so happened to notice his student standing knee deep in the river, with completely soaked jeans, holding a tree branch at least 4 or 5 feet long. His jaw dropped, and along with it, his cigarette.

_Shit._

The professor looked very disturbed, waved slowly at her, as though not certain if he was seeing things.

Shannon could have just died of embarrassment. But waved back sheepishly.

After shaking his head and muttering something about "no more happy hour", he soon left Shannon blissfully alone. Oh wait. Alone. When some bad guy's coming any time.

"So, uh...you were saying, Planet person?" Shannon joked nervously, not really liking standing in this _freezing cold water_.

Instead of hearing a helpful whisper in response, an extremely painful and deep noise assailed her ears, and not moments after the ground began to quake. Shannon covered her ears and sploshed hurriedly under the bridge to take cover, and crouched into a protective ball.

As soon as it was over, the fire alarms of at least two nearby buildings were going off at the same time. That was weird. And probably not a good sign.

She was paranoid about staying in one place, but also afraid to come out from her hiding place. Just when Shannon had decided to emerge from under the bridge, she heard some voices above her head.

"Alright, you take your men that way and I'll lead mine past the bridge."

"Yessir!"

A young child's voice,"I want my Mommy!"

"Silence!" The commander snapped venomously, making Shannon cringe.

"But Mommy's here! I know it! Lemme _go_! Lemme go! _Right_ _now_!"

Shannon silently cheered,_ Go kid go!_ There was obviously quite the scuffle going on (right above Shannon's head, fuck,) and it sounded like the boy was somehow able to put up a good fight.

"If you dont _shut up_ you'll be very sorry brat-"

An animalistic snarl, then,"**_NOW!"_**

Oh god. Was _that_ the _kid_?!

A gunshot, and then all went still.

Shannon was struggling to breathe normally, and not be heard freaking out.

A grunt. "Change in plans, we need to get this specimen back to headquarters pronto."

A static sound, like a walkie-talkie. "Roger that."

"Alright. Move out!"

Tromp, tromp, tromp, tromp...

When the footsteps had finally faded away, Shannon exhaled a breath she hadn't noticed she was holding, and slowly crawled out from under the bridge, no longer feeling a sense of safety there.

_Ok, danger's gone, so how about some HELP Planet?! What the fuck am I supposed to be doing!? What's going on? Why-_

Fshh.

Somehow a sharp object had appeared out of nowhere and was up against her throat; out of the corner of her eyes, she could see it glinting wickedly in the sunlight.

"Don't move."

A female's voice laced with dark, ominous tones, as though there was something not quite...human about them. It sounded so familiar, and yet not. Heck, this presence even **_felt_** so wrong, it was like a wave of intense **_wrongness_** so powerful that it was making her sick...the exact opposite of the tree party she'd had earlier.

Shannon whimpered.

An agonizingly long pause.

"Well," the woman continued with a sneer of amusement, "are you going to do anything, or just stand there?"

"...b..but you told me not to move," Shannon squeaked, her back still turned to this unseen enemy.

"...Ah...so this is the novice..."

Shannon trembled, clutching her stick like a lifeline, even though a measly stick she'd been able to break off a tree with her hands wouldn't protect her against a sword.

The swordswoman drawled, "Hunh, it would be so easy to just kill you right now... but what fun would that be?"

"_Child, you must not leave the river."_

_Holy cow where were you?!_ Shannon halfway-scolded Planet voice. _And what's so great about the water? I've stood here a long time now and I'm frickin' cold!_

Shannon left her inner communication chat when she felt the blade withdraw from her neck, and breathed shakily with relief.

"Nice weapon choice," her attacker jeered, _sounding so-damn-familiar!_

"_Repeat the incantations you hear, and holy protection will be granted to you."_

Shannon was about to say a befuddled retort, when a swarm of runic symbols and foreign languages buzzed and transformed in her mind. No, her _eyes._

"Well go on then. Amuse me."

..._In green. Blinding, flashing, she couldn't see the campus forest anymore, just wild, intense energy swarming through her veins as she murmured words she couldn't understand without even meaning to use her vocal chords. It was like a dream she had no control over..._

* * *

Shannon's body stiffened, and began to glow all over, starting from her middle and to her fingertips-

"Aw, fuck!"

The fencer lunged with her katana at the Cetra who now was glowing with green light like a star; unexpectedly the swordswoman was richocheted off with the same force as that of her own charge by some barrier.

Furiously, she lashed her katana repeatedly against the barrier from every side, but to no avail, and the girl inside the green flare was still chanting and gaining more power-

And suddenly glowing mahogany eyes snapped open.

At first, the green flare doubled in size, mostly due to the absorption of _- FUCK the water! Damn it! Damn it! Fuckin' holy wa-_

A solid wave of energy exploded in all directions, knocking the attacker off her feet, but she was able to avoid most of the impact - just barely.

When the light had dissipated, there was no trace of the Cetra.

The swordswoman yelled a few choice words and cut through a good amount of trees with her weapon out of spite.

* * *

_Was that...Amelia?!_

Shannon barely had time to glimpse the furious green eyes that bore into her before the sensation of a hook pulling her up, and the world disappeared from view.

Flying headfirst through a vortex of wildly spinning kaleidoscope colors and shapes zooming past her in cascades of twirls, her arms, legs, everything burning as though on fire-

No one could hear her screaming though. Hell, she couldn't even hear herself over the hum that was popping her ears. And the more the colors mesmerized her in this painful hypnosis, the faster she seemed to be going, and the more it _fucking hurt_-

Her arm was covered in reds, yellows, and blues, then purple, green, and orange the next moment, never staying the same for very long.

The vortex's center point directly ahead glowed white, and soon expanded to the entirety of the kaleidoscope, blinding and numbing the Cetra completely.

* * *

All was calm and silent in the eerie Forgotten City. Towering ivory trees guarded the perimeter of the sanctuary, silent witnesses to many miracles and secrets of the Ancients. In the center of this refuge, a lake with unknown dark depths, not a ripple across the surface.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a wind began to spin from just above the middle of the lake, pulling up water with it.

The aqua-tornado spun faster and faster until it began to burn with a pearly shine, abruptly swerving in a U-shape to the right, and crashing a loud wave against the land at the water's edge.

All grew still once more.

The silvery-white, luminous droplets on the shore shimmered a moment. Then they grew together, to make a small silver form of light in the shape of a human body. The form grew much brighter, then just as suddenly the light completely disappeared. Leaving an unconscious brunette lying on the shore, still clinging to a small white stick.

* * *

Aerith sighed from her place within the Lifestream, and turned to smile fondly, if not remorsefully, at a sleeping translucent figure nearby.

_He always looked so cute as a dog._

One would say the wolf was a ghost, so easily could one see through him. Unlike the majority of the other souls in the Lifestream, he had not properly joined the current when he passed on...possessing too much Life in him to become truly dead yet, and his soul had become..."tangled" with other souls as they made their way to the Lifestream.

Because it was quite a while later before Aerith joined the Lifestream too, there was quite a mess by the time she got there. It was terrifying to see so many life forms half-hazardly being dragged along in the current, only partly joined with the green river of light. Her first chore as a Guardian Ancient of the Lifestream, then, had been undoing the knot. And what a shock and attack of emotions took her when she saw the cause of it all.

_-Flashback-_

_Once Aerith had realized that she could watch over her fellow__ friends in AVALANCHE from up here, it helped her feel better. She would have to guide the Planet to use its energy and stop Meteor from crashing very soon -_

_But she turned with a small gasp when she saw the imperfection in the life source; you could call it a traffic jam._

_Aerith was very confused why this chain blob of life - creatures, pets, humans, wildlife - had not been able to properly fuse with the rest. This was very bad, and could be dangerous if she didn't reverse it as quickly as possible. For all she knew, it could be too late._

_Aerith briskly walked through empty white space like clouds to the emerald ring and began a very tedious, tiring, but rewarding tasks of freeing them all, one by one, with her blessings and healing touch._

_Then she came to a black-haired serious man with a square jaw she recognized as being a friend of Zack's, who looked slightly relieved to see her. Odd, because everyone else was unconscious if they were not yet merged with the Lifestream. Oh. He must have died alrea__dy, how sad._

_"Are you...?" Angeal shook his head, deeming whatever his question was obsolete. "He's far too persistent."_

Who?

_Aerith tilted her head inquisitively at him, and the Serious Man pointed to the center of the mass he was outside of._

_"See for yourself."_

_After extricating a goat, three Shinra Grunts, and a Chocobo, she found him._

_Raven hair and bright blue eyes, a frown in his brows no __doubt understandable since he had yet been unable to find peace in soul._

_Zack Fair._

Her_ Zack, who she had wondered for_ so long _about, and written those eighty-nine letters, before she finally lost hope in seeing him again. _

_The bewildered flower girl moved much more quickly than before at untangling the web of bodies and helping them into the light with quicker, more rushed blessings. _

_Zack, Zack, Zack, what happened to you? What did they make you do in SOLDIER that you weren't able to bear? No wonder you weren't able to come see me._

_Aerith wiped away tears that had flooded her face, but smiled that he was here with her again. Even if this was not the ideal circumstance. Then frowned. She had thought for so long that he had just forgotten her, since he had been a bit of a ladies man, and she ha__d moved on and begun to find love in Cloud. But that was just a selfish lie she had hoped to believe in, she didn't want to think he was dead. Not her Zack._

_Finally, she reached the last one. And froze with dread._

_The last life form left before Zack was a wolf, but its spirit had become intertwined almost completely now with Zack's. He had been here too long. She was too late._

_Aerith sank to her knees in despair. What could she do? If she tried to separate one from the other, it would be like separating conjoined twins that share organs - one would be guaranteed to die, if not both. But if she left them as they were, when she used the Lifestream to deflect Meteor and shield the Planet, then any "ghosts" who had not yet joined the Lifestream and were just "floating" (as Zack and this wolf were) would cease to exist after the collision force between Sephiroth/Jenova's Weapon and the Planet's Shield._

_She pressed a hand to his ghostly head on a sudden hunch._

_He had just a speck of life in him, enough to cause a torrent of problems and make this mess. Just enough to not be alive, but not technicall__y count as dead either, so he was unable to cross the barrier._

_She smiled slowly, an idea dawning on her. The flower girl chanted a different tune under her breath, and the two ghostly bodies began to merge as one-_

-End Flashback-

Aerith petted Zack the Wolf's back one more time. Being not really dead, it wasn't possible for her to put him into the lifestream, but when Meteor had come, he was safe from obliteration, since he was not a "ghost", containing a spark of life within his body still. She had been successful in merging him with the canine he had been stuck to like a siamese twin, so now his title of "puppy", as his SOLDIER friends had called him, was ironically suitable in a physical sense.

And the loving SOLDIER had been able to help her watch over AVALANCHE for some time now. Sometimes illegally sneaking down to Earth to check up on Cloud and get his butt out of trouble (again) in wolf form. But lately things had become a little tense. After Cloud and AVALANCHE had defeated Sephiroth and the Remnants, Aerith and Zack went down to make sure things were all settled again...

_Aerith healed a small child of his Geostigma by the water, and patted him on the head with a caring smile._

_When she looked up, she was staring into those worried teal blue eyes again of a certain blonde spiked crush she'd had._

_Aerith had cheated. Again. She cheated in allowing Zack to illegally stay with her instead of returning to the world of the living, and she cheated again in helping Cloud return to the living when he should have already died. _

_But she needed Zack. And Cloud was __needed to protect the world from Sephiroth's inevitable return still, so he couldn't leave yet. But it did tear at something inside her to know that Cloud belonged to the barmaid now, and that she couldn't have him._

_Pushing those thoughts aside, Aerith grinned at Cloud before turning to leave, and was pleased to see Cloud actually smile for the first time in who knows how long._

_Zack waved, too._

_When they returned back "home", Zack had seemed slightly distant, a very un-Zack-ish thing to be. The flowergirl had assumed at first this was because of everyone getting scared of Sephiroth taking over the world and nearly killing Cloud again. But..._

_"I always wondered why you stopped at eighty-nine."_

_There was pain in the young man's voice, his back turned to her._

_Aerith was confused at firs__t, "What do you mean?"_

_"The letters of course." He turned to glance sideways over his shoulder, afraid to meet her gaze, and turned away again. "Eighty-nine is an odd number to stop at. Why not a hundred, or even ninety, just to round things off?"_

_"Zack, -"_

_"It was him, wasn't it?" Zack had turned to face her now, his blue eyes shining with hurt._

_Aerith choked on her words. "I...Zack...It had been several years, I -"_

_Zack sighed, "Never mind, it's not important."_

_And walked off to patrol the perimenter of the green rim again, not once looking back over his shoulder._

Aerith stroked the fur on Zack's wolf pelt again, closing her eyes. Things hadn't been quite the same after that, and now that she had been helping Rima out, and had seen the result of the time flux, she knew things between her and Zack just weren't going to work. She couldn't keep him indefinitely here anyways...Only a Cetra was permitted to roam between the two worlds of life and lifestream.

She sniffed, but stood up and smiled sadly down on the canine SOLDIER.

"I'm sorry, Zack...but this is for your own good."

* * *

A small boy, about 4 or 5 years old, encased standing up in a Mako tube. His dark brown, almost black hair, floating slightly in the green liquid. It was starting to grow out some, past his chin and in ruffled, thick layers that tickled his cheeks as little bubbles moved them around.

The boy's eyes were closed tightly and lips pursed as his head drooped to his chest in an uncomfortable, unnatural slumber.

This was why he didn't budge, even when the sirens began sounding shrilly and red lights blinking.

* * *

A man in his mid twenties with ragged, shoulder-length, dirty-blond hair was tearing down the halls, breath coming in quick gasps. His desperate running stride echoing down the dimly lit maze of white halls. Ignoring the blood streaming down his right arm, which left an easily definable trail behind him. And the glass in his knuckles. And the possibly shattered bones in said knuckles.

Not that he cared anymore, he'd already been caught - but now he had a shotgun to protect himself, even if he had to use his left hand, when he was right-handed.

Time was all that mattered now.

Coming to another dead end, where a blinding alert light reflected off of all the white walls, adjacent to a security camera (which was no doubt watching his every move) he paused long enough only to wipe some annoying blood off of his arm against his tattered and stained old lab coat, and use said wounded appendage to flip off the camera.

Then paused for a moment more. His right arm...it made sense for it to be covered in red, but not black spots of this...scab-like skin. In fact, there was some on his left arm as well, but considerably more so of the black flecks and patches on the right arm and hand around open wounds.

He'd dwell on that mystery later.

Finally, the escaped prisoner found the metal bolted door he'd been searching for. Quickly, he attempted a few codes, none of which worked, of course.

Rolling his eyes, he hissed a series of profanities under his breath and blasted the door with his stolen weapon.

After the fourth bullet was lodged in the depths of the lock system, the electric door's wiring was finally reached and became frayed, sending blue sparks flying for a moment.

The ex-lab technician smirked, having come prepared, and slipped his left hand into a rubber glove to open the door and prevent some shock residue. The heavy door groaned in protest as he shoved it open, the whole time keeping his weak, bloodied right hand grasped tightly around the gun and pointed in front of him.

Scanning the room quickly, he spotted the person he was looking for, and gave a cry of bittersweet joy, nearly dropping his weapon.

"Jason...oh my god, Jason..."

The little sleeping boy in the mako chamber, of course, did not respond back. His malnourished body was covered in small bruises, a myriad of shades of purples, blues, reds, especially at key blood vessel locations in his frail, exposed arms. Unconsciously, the distressed trespasser rubbed his own arm, wincing.

"What the hell all did that bastard do to you?" He whispered sorrowfully, choking on his words.

Jason's left hand twitched in his sleep.

For a moment, the dirty-blond haired man forgot about his imperative need to hurry, and lightly plunked his head against the cool glass surface of the mako chamber, a series of complex emotions swirling on his face as he stared at the child inside.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, even though the sirens were not making that particularly easy, he lifted his head away from the glass, and slowly tore his eyes from the specim- _**No,**_ the abused _prisoner_.

"I will save you, little brother. And I'll make him pay _Hell_ for doing this to you," his rescuer growled loudly, as the devil himself interrupted him with a mad bout of laughter, stalking with an air of smugness into the doorway.

Both had their guns pointed at each other in less than a heartbeat.

It was hard to say who fired first, but both shots found their targets. But only one of them had used a bullet.

With an agonizing scream, Hojo's assailant clutched his right eye in intense pain, found a very tiny, arrow-shaped object in it, and panicked, staggering against a metal table that had wheels. His shaky weight knocked the cart over and shattered its contents - mostly vials of chemicals - all over the floor, where he unfortunately landed.

Scraping his face on some glass.

Choking on some nasty liquid that he just tasted, the ex-lab technician rolled out of the mess with a groan, half-way sat up on his non-wounded arm - and felt with horror a cold tingling in his veins.

_It must be poison._

Acting quickly, he ripped the dart out of his eye, screaming loudly again.

The room was spinning, and it was a struggle for him to open his good eye, but he could make out the blurry form of the mad scientist slumped across the room against the wall, an arm over his chest, his own gun out of reach. Laughing.

_Laughing!_

With a snarl, he shakily lifted his right arm, caked with dried blood, and readied the trigger again-

"You really think you can destroy _me_, foolish _**boy**_?" The scientist goaded him, sneering over his glasses.

In spite of the intense pain in his right eye, which was causing his left eye to tear up all fuzzy, and the dreaded cold feeling of deathly poison tickling his nerves, the half-blinded male began to chuckle, then full-out laugh, without complete reason.

"You're the one with a bullet in the chest, I'm the one with the gun. You tell me," the young man replied with icy humor.

Strangely, Hojo merely smiled back. "I have no _**need **_for this body, in _fact_," the older man continued, while the blonde stared in confusion, still pointing the shotgun at him,"You are about to prove another one of theories correct, and I will later be united with a far stronger body."

Blondie eyed him warily, unsure of how to respond to the weird maniac.

"...Right."

Hojo smirked. The flickering lights, bouncing off of his glasses, gave an even more deranged appearance to the insane, self-proclaimed "god".

"So naive. Even though you are but a worthless pawn to me in the scheme of things, I will share a little secret with you."

_Good god. I knew this man was nuts... _

_But he's beyond batshit crazy, he needs serious pyschiatric help._

Even in his precarious position slumped against the wall, with a visibly growing red blood stain creeping through his labcoat, Hojo's sneer did not fade.

"I have discovered the way to become, **_immortal_**! And-"

_Definitely mental._

"...fusing my cells with-"

_Should I just shoot him now, or let him keep talking?_

"...And now that I am finished with this clone's husk-"

_Wait, CLONE!? He-_

"...I shall utilize a far, far more stronger body for my purposes-"

_...would it be worse to shoot him? Wait, no, bullshit, he's just a rambling psycho ._

Only half-way listening to the freak anyways, the ex-lab assistant decided to just get it over with, leaning his weight against the wall in an attempt to stand without losing anymore dignity.

Ah, success.

"-Oh, and Nagakuro? Your _dear_ brother was quite the successful experiment."

_That sneer. That - that-_ bastard-

Arm shaking, no longer out of pain, Nagakuro hatefully shot a round into the fiend's leg, "You, _YOU_!"

"And to think," Hojo continued after a mere yelp, wishing to goad whatever being existed before him until his last breath, "that you, my _talented_ assistant, were the one that made it _all _possible..."

"**SHUT UP!"**

-Bang-

Another leg.

Despite the shrill scream- one which the disgusted man was more than happy to hear- Hojo's insanity ruled over pain, and the screech evolved into a terrifying cackle that made his hair stand on end.

It wouldn't stop. The cruel laugh. He just. Wouldn't. Die!

In a frenzy of hatred and panic, Nagakuro shot several more rounds. Although one would have been more than sufficient for the frail body that had already been on the verge of death, the fear and adrenaline pumping through his brain made him fire until the gun was empty.

**BANG BANG BANG BANG**- click.

The body laid lifeless, pallid, in a pool of red on the floor. A pair of shattered glasses amidst it.

Panting heavily, the blonde turned away. Afraid of the death. Afraid, even more so, of seeing the man - the monster.

A glow of green-ish light made him turn back to look, however.

And he cursed loudly.

Such a psychopath, a heathen, a disgrace to the human race...should not be allowed to emerge into the Lifestream. It was simply not fair.

How many lives had he ruined?

With a cry of anguish, Nagakuro hit his fist angrily against the wall repeatedly, until he slid down it in despair, finally falling unconscious to the poison.

* * *

A/N: (Read if Curious about Hojo, but spoilers for DoC ahead, caution)

So how many pplz are happy Hojo is temporarily dead? At least until Weiss in Dirge of Cerberus? XD In DoC, there's that speech he made about how he realized that even after implanting Jenova cells into himself that his body was not strong enough to deal with Jenova's will, a side effect he hadn't counted on. And how he then captured the essence of his DNA into basically the internet or something similarly worded and was able from there to get reborn into Weiss with assistance from Nero, under the scheme that it would be helping his "dear" brother...

I figured, why not let Hojo learn through trial and error that he couldn't use a clone of his own body first? There are so many things that go wrong with clones, after all. It would be something Hojo would want to show his superiority as a scientist at.

MUAHAHAHA.

I wasn't quite sure if I captured well enough. After all, it's through the eyes of Blondie - who FINALLY has a name, go me! XD If you're curious, "Nagakuro" translates to "eternal black", which will mean more later, believe me. ;)

Such a pity I couldn't have someone else like Vincent kill him, who deserves the honor more, but Vincent does in Dirge so that's alright. (+Momentarily drools over Chaos Vincent badass pictures before returning+)

Right then. I guess that's it for now. Next is Amelia and Sephiroth, who wow geez I've left them too long, I need to write for them soon XD Hopefully it wont take as long to complete...ah who am I kidding XD These Chapters are LOOOONG. Me being a perfectionist doesnt help the time thing, lol. Ah well.

If you've managed to actually read this far, then please review!

Reviews feed my plot bunnies!!! :P

PlotBunny: +bounces by+


	15. Incite

Hey guys!!!!!!! ^^;;; I apologize for dying on you all, it's been an interesting few months...Anyhow, I figured I should post what I've got so far, and, as usual, this will be like a two chapter or so sequence since I never seem to be able to fit all of the stuff in one chapter. Eh, more fun reading right? XD

Songs for this chapter:

Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra

A Dangerous Mind - Within Temptation

Getting Away with Murder by Papa Roach

Any ideas are always helpful, the plot bunnies are in my head, but sometimes they grow quicker if you feed them carrots XD

Chocolate-chip cookies to all still readin, and caaaaaake for Kairi-loves-Sushi and freakyfan3754 for reviewing :D

* * *

_Amelia slowly ignored all of the trivial distractions, and focused on picturing the white vastness around her. As she began to relax, she discovered she could envision more of the details of the tundra around them; a white hare noiselessly shuffling out of its burrow to peep out; a red cardinal settling into its nest; a mink patiently stalking a family of mice in hopes of a snack._

_"Excellent,"praised Sephiroth's voice, which echoed as though from far away, "Now you should be able to detect their connections to the lifestream."_

_Even as he spoke, emerald orbs of light began to glow brightly from each of the animals that she had spiritually come across, thin strands extending from each of the orbs to the limbs of the critters. Then the mink pounced on one of the mice, and she literally watched the life drain from the unfortunate rodent's body, but the green light became tendrils that escaped like gas from a container into the atmosphere, to join with the rest of the Lifestream._

_Then she remembered what Sephiroth had said about the Lifestream having rejected her, and spiritually left the mouse and mink to travel to the two forms at the edge of the cliff, pausing with wonder to look at her stationary body, before searching for the green light that had been present in the other life forms._

_A faint glow at the center of her form was all that she found - and -_

_Holy shit...that black marking on her hand...was like a black mist that was slowly migrating underneath her skin towards the dim center glow, as if to smother and completely destroy it. She glanced at Sephiroth with a sudden worry, and saw with confusion that where his form should have been, was an outline of completely black...as if he didn't even exist..._

_Amelia turned back to her own body with a frown, then, curiously looked deeper, where the green dim light met with black void -_

_She heard strange voices murmuring in her mind, or maybe they were just inhuman moans, some higher, crying, some angry, accusing, and lower, and none of their words were intelligible. Flashes of black amidst green spots, the murmurs had become shrill screams -_

"Amelia? Amelia!"

With quick SOLDIER reflexes, Sephiroth was able to slow the novice Cetra woman's sudden collapse to the ground. Her eyes were unfocused, looking in his direction but not at him, and her hands were shaking much more than just the cold could account for.

"Sorry," she mumbled, apparently upset with herself. But Sephiroth was worried, this wasn't supposed to happen - he was trying to help her control her new power, not become possessed by this sudden Planet rejection sickness.

The general found himself actually feeling a very human emotion, one he hadn't felt for a long time - fear.

"Amelia," Sephiroth commanded, "Stay awake."

She was quickly losing consciousness - her system had inexplicably shut down and it was apparent she needed to get warm. It didn't help that a sudden arctic chill had decided to pick up, as though the Planet was toying with him, purposely making this more difficult. Which it probably was.

Swiftly, Sephiroth scooped the shivering woman up to warm her trembling form with body heat, despite her stubborn mumbled protest, "No...I'm fine."

Temporarily, the idea of finding a cave and creating a fire ball of energy to warm her crossed the his mind, but was quickly cast aside. A cave would not do, even if he was able to locate one fast somehow. He would have to break into Icicle Inn, regardless of the consequences. He'd been desiring some bloodshed sometime soon aways.

One large feathered appendage thrashed out behind his body, sending dark feathers drifting behind as he leaped off of the cliff.

Silver hair streamed out behind the One-Winged Angel as his velocity increased dangerously; the Amelia's head jerked at the sudden force.

Because their direction was against the fierce, biting wind, he was forced to keep close to or within the forest trees to reduce friction, occasionally using his Masamune to strike a looming pine top out of the way.

But Sephiroth paid no heed, his thoughts a raging storm.

How dare this filthy, tainted Planet steal the one person who could identify with him, who could become his only adoring companion in a world that cared nothing for his bane of an existence? Besides Mother, of course. But being one of a kind, loved by no one, was not exactly the most delightful of existences.

No, he would conquer again, he had triumphed over the Planet's feeble attempts to extinguish him several times already, and he would cure this woman, an orphaned child disowned by her Mother Earth. And she would become his queen, god and goddess of a new, pure world.

"So...tired..." the girl trembled, weakly clinging closer to his chest, her fevered breath temporarily sending a spark of electricity on the skin. Sephiroth glanced sharply down at her with a brief hitch in his breath.

"Amelia! No, you _must_ stay awake," he commanded, raising his voice in hopes of keeping Amelia conscious.

**_Shit._** She was already out.

In fury, he lashed out with far more force than necessary at the oncoming conifer with a loud outcry.

Then saw the wide expanse of a ditch just beyond the forest - they were almost to the village.

Sephiroth's scowl softened, and he lightly stroked Amelia's pale cheek. Unexpectedly, he was rewarded with emerald eyes opening halfway to meet his with complete trust.

**-ROOOOOAR-**

An enormous black-scaled, yellow-eyed creature was suddenly quite close and blocking his path. Amelia, for her credit, didn't shriek a girly scream of terror, merely tightening her grasp on the front of his trenchcoat, although it may have been because she lacked the strength to scream.

Back-tracking quickly to avoid talons knocking him out of the sky, Sephiroth considered his opponent.

Apparently this giant crevice in the ground was part of a series of cracks in the furnace of the earth containing Mako pools. After all these years, the Planet was still using Mako to heal itself from the collision of what the humans called "the Calamity of the Skies" into what was now the Northern Crater.

And the lizard before him, no doubt enhanced with this Mako pool, had found the location to be a desirable den for raising dragon younglings, shielded from the blizzards above.

Sephiroth growled in annoyance, but swiftly and not so gracefully deposited Amelia onto the other side of the canyon before turning back to dispose of the snarling, territorial lizard.

* * *

_So cold..._

A shrill, unearthly screeching caused the half-conscious woman to slowly open her eyes again.

Her silver-haired protector was dodging bouts of flame that were being desperately spat by a giant iguana...no, a dragon.

_Hm. No wonder it's so cold._

Amelia stared at a snowflake that landed softly on her nose as she laid motionless in a snowbank, suddenly wanting to be held in warm arms again. And just go to sleep...

"_Child, must you be so troublesome?"_

The woman's green eyes flashed open wide instantly.

"M-mother?" she muttered aloud, but no answer came.

After a moment's hesitation, Amelia was able to sit up again, feeling some strength returning to her limbs, but damn her fucking fingers felt like they had frostbite.

A snarling above, along with the sound of grating metal on scales, reminded her that a battle was going on. Even if it was starting to get hard to see the black beast through the white storm that had mysteriously arisen.

Amelia stood up shakily, slipping for a moment in some hidden ice, and cursed loudly, before starting to pace.

Great, just great. She felt like an idiot, was frozen more than a damn popsicle, Sephiroth was fighting his ass off for her stupid weakness, and now Mother was pissed off with her. Why did she have to be a fucking damsel in distress? Always fainting and unconscious and -

"This is FUCKING BULLSHIT!" Amelia snarled, kicking the nearest tree with a crack.

The conifer was well on in years, thus being very large, and created a domino effect that knocked over several more neighboring trees.

Amelia paused, smirking a little. But frowned looking up through the whiteout at the large black blur and a smaller quick one that she knew to be Sephiroth fighting the dragon. It was obvious he would finish it off soon, from the way the defiant roars had become anguished cries. Besides, he was an ex-Soldier, so she seriously doubted he would need her help. She'd just end up getting in the way.

The girl impatiently tossed her head to get an annoying silver lock out of her line of vision.

What could she do to redeem herself in Sephiroth (and Mother's) eyes?

Well, sitting around here being half-blind and useless would not be a good start.

So with that, Amelia decided to head out of this godforsaken snow land and towards the lights that she knew meant civilization.

* * *

Untouched, pure snow, never trampled on.

Then a tall boot crunched through ice chunks, its owner's black leather trenchcoat whipping around wildly in the furious wind.

The ire was easily recognizable in his tensed posture, if not his taut jawline and furrowed brows.

Or the extra wounds that had appeared in the side of the already deceased beast's stomach after several minutes of fruitless search.

_Where did that blasted Cetra disappear to?_

Even his enhanced SOLDIER vision was having difficulty seeing more than twenty feet in front of him, and any trace of her tracks would have been covered by the blizzard. It had not fallen quickly enough to bury her if she was still lying where he had left her, which meant she just got up and walked off.

He had searched this area completely multiple times, so he was certain she had left. Probably for the village.

"Infernal woman," he growled, changing directions with swift pace.

It was the most logical course of action, he didn't deny, and he had already been on his way to take her there, but that didn't quench this fire that had suddenly consumed him. What if something happened to her? Not only were all of these events not according to plan, if she was still anything close to her sickened state of earlier, or susceptible to another of those strange...attacks...she would fare poorly against monsters on her way out.

The memory of her half-closed, beautiful emerald eyes staring into his, as she clung to him weakly in his arms's powerful grasp in mid-flight.

Then, another, darker thought occurred to Sephiroth.

...what if one of those village heathens claimed _his_ prize?

His lips curled in disgust, and the general quickened his stride to a sprint.

* * *

Amelia spotted the guard by the front gates long before she could have been seen, and quickly dived behind some of the foliage at the edge of the forest line.

She paused for a moment to rub her arms, realizing, (now that she was completely awake, partly from a painfully cold piece of ice rock in her right shoe and her fingers just being plain numb,) that she would need to get a new outfit.

The tan tanktop was hardly sufficient for this weather, even if she did still have a trenchcoat to cling to. It would help if she had shoulder pads or something, like Sephiroth. Heck, even her pants were drenched with snow. Her only possession that had seemed to remain intact was her sword.

The woman grumbled something along the lines of "why the fuck does this always happen to me" before turning her attention back to the patrolman at the gates.

Since it would be stupid to go flying over the wall into the middle of the town during daylight, she had two choices:

Go along the side of the walls of the city, hopefully finding an inconspicous side entrance and not get mauled by some monsters that were strong enough to wander near the edge of civilization...or just get rid of the one guard at the main entrance of the sleepy town that probably had no real army, and waltz right in, grab some clothes, and demand a nice warm room in a hotel.

Easy enough choice.

Amelia lightly ran a thumb across the hilt of Harbinger, then crept towards one corner of the wall, where she could stealthily approach the guard but still remain in the camouflage of the forest and the temporarily-fading-snowstorm.

_Wait...I could upgrade these materia more if I used them more often..._

She pulled two materia out of her pocket. One was green, one red, and another yellow.

The green one was the winner by default, since she was still slightly unsure of how to use summons, which eliminated the red, and the yellow was unnecessary. The fact that she admired the power behind the multiple special abilities of the green one certainly helped: ice, fire, and lightning, among others that she had yet to unlock.

Rolling the green marble in-between her fingers, Amelia temporarily smirked, remembering that surge of power she had felt when wielding the electricity in her hand against that demon.

Her smile faded uncertainly when she pondered over whether to consider her an enemy now...

No matter.

Slowly she pushed the cool orb into her skin, immediately feeling that tingle of energy flow through to her fingertips.

Amelia glanced at her marked left hand, noting that she felt alot stronger now, not like earlier when she collapsed.

Blue sparks twitched from her fingertips in anticipation, and the silver-haired woman chuckled darkly, stalking forward confidently towards the dozing guard.

* * *

Although it was just the afternoon, from the clouds hovering overhead, it may have very well been evening, causing a looming shadow over everything below. The snow had a greyish-blue tint to it from the darkening skies, leaving a grunt by the wall feeling a sense of foreboding.

But then, he'd always been paranoid. No one ever attacked a resort town, for goodness sakes. It was just his comrade's teasing getting to him again, he should enjoy being transferred to this snow land station.

Anyways, snowing actually seemed kinda...peaceful, when it wasn't a storm like earlier.

And...made him kinda sleepy...

_"...do you copy?"_

...snore...

_"Hey, Retard, wake up! The captain'll be pissed if he finds out you were snoozing again!"_

The grunt started from the sudden yelling of the voice over the walkie-talkie in his pocket, lifting his head upwards sharply, only to cause his helmet to bash hard against the wall.

"Ow! Rats, where'd that thing go?" the man's words were half-slurred with sleepyness as he tried to locate his walkie-talkie.

_" Snoooozers, a Loooozer! "_

Ah, there it was, on the ground.

The grunt wrinkled his nose in annoyance before bending down to pick it up, hoping his partner wouldn't continue to berate him for sleeping on the job yet again.

He never saw it coming.

The lightning bolt of energy streaked with a flash towards him before he could process that an enemy intruder was even around.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH"

The crackling continued for nearly a minute, his screams ceasing sooner, but the materia-wielder needed to be sure he was truly dead. If one were standing in the forest, they could have easily seen the blue electric mini-explosion.

The attacker stared at the smoldered pile of suit and flesh for moment, then nudged it with a boot.

Yup, definitely dead.

Lips quirked upwards smugly. Emerald cat-like eyes gleamed at a now larger and more powerful levelled materia in her hand.

_"Anybody hoooooome?"_

With a frown, the swordswoman crushed the phone-like device under her foot with a loud crunch, and turned on one heel to stroll in the city gates triumphantly.

...only to find herself roughly pinned against the stone wall, leather gloves slightly bruising her shoulders.

Amelia gulped under the scrutiny of the ex-General's piercing stare.

Had it been anyone else who just shoved her against a fucking _rock wall_, she'd have given them an earful and kicked their ass immediately.

But it wasn't, this was Sephiroth...and she was stunned by his current expression, unsure whether or not he was angry with her, or what.

For a moment, his vividly green eyes were cold and emotionless, boring right through her, as though not even really seeing her.

A breath of frosty air exhaled from his nostrils, then he slowly blinked and readjusted his stance, although he still remained in her personal space.

Amelia felt a small relief when he relinquished his hold on her shoulders, but, her brashness now recovered, blurted in mildly annoyed confusion, "What the hell was that?"

The corner of Sephiroth's thin-lipped mouth quirked upwards, his eyebrows slightly raising as he stared down at her, a new glint in his eyes.

It suddenly occurred to Amelia just _how_ much taller the ex-SOLDIER was than her when he leaned down closer to her eye level.

With his right hand pressed against the wall for support, he intoned deeply into her ear, "Never let your guard down," one of his legs brushed intimately against her own, sending a start of shock as powerful as materia being absorbed in her arm.

"...You never know what might happen," if his hot breath against her face and their suggestive position hadn't been enough to put her face on fire, the tongue suddenly tracing the back of her outer lobe did.

Her brain had temporary froze up at the unexpected contact. Amelia had hoped before that perhaps something might happen between them, but what with her luck with men in the past, she'd forced herself to not expect anything, so her heart wouldn't break later, especially with the man of her dreams.

She mewled quietly, before she felt his mouth smirk against her face, his left hand's thumb softly stroking her side, rising higher slowly. The woman opened her eyes slowly to meet his, the emerald slits looking into her own, then dropped her gaze slightly to his lips. Just centimeters away. She craved to taste them, and the desire overcame her to lunge forward and do just that-

"HALT! You are under arrest. Don't move, or we'll shoot!"

A guard, currently being joined by a few companions, had spotted his fallen comrade and was standing at the top of the walls of the gates, his long range shooter pointed down at them. Whether it was from the odd angle he was positioned and the blinding snow reflecting afternoon light, or just unfortunate ignorance, the youth failed to recognize just _who_ it was that he had just threatened.

Within a matter of moments, Sephiroth's expression changed from seductive to annoyed to dark amusement.

Amelia was currently, however, just extremely pissed at the idiot who just ruined her moment.

Grabbing the handle of Harbinger on her back, she yelled her retort, "FUCK. YOU." Throwing in a hand gesture as well, much to the amusement of one of the guard's friends.

Their laughter was short lived when Masamune was drawn, and they finally realized that the swordsman's hair was silver.

"No! Hell no, he's supposed to be dead!"

The men began to panic, afraid to run or fight, and ironically they resolved to spending their last minutes yelling blame at each other instead of firing immediately.

Sephiroth tilted his head ever so slightly to glance with interest at the woman who's ears were practically steaming. Her cheeks were lightly tinged with pink from his earlier advances.

"Shall we?" He extended his arm outwards as majestically as though inviting her to a ballroom dance.

Amelia glared straight above them with a nod, fluidly unsheathing Harbinger. "I need some more sword practice."

The General caught a few rich curse strings murmured with his superior hearing and smirked before they launched off the snowy base to meet the onleash of bullet fire.

* * *

A/N: I will get more done soon-ish! XD sorry for the long wait. :) And if anyone's interested, I have a poll on my profile page, it would be awesome if you clicked your vote there.

Cheers!

~Rutilus

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	16. PMSing Demons

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**

Hey guys!!! Wow, I'm actually writing again, haha. It's been extremely busy with work, so these updates always seem to take me longer than I expect. But I've done some research on kinds of materia, summons, and the ages of the characters, since I got curious.

This chapter is...broody, bloody, and all that loveliness. Yay! ^_^;

**Character Ages:** (according to the time of Advent Children, so just add a few months)

Cloud: 23, but was locked up in a mako tube for 4 years - psychologically 19?

Vincent: 27 physically, 59 actual years (Hojo's experiments)

Sephiroth: 25 physically, 30 in actual years (fell through the lifestream, and apparently doesn't age anymore either)

Zack: was 23 when he died saving Cloud, so now should be 25, but still physically 23, but also was locked up in a mako tube for 4 years...

Red XIII: 50 in actual years, but considered to be a "teenager" by his own kind

Yuffie: 18

Tifa: 22

Cid: 34

Barrett: 37

Marlene: 7

Denzel: 10

**OCs:**

Jennifer: 21

Shannon: 21

Amelia: almost 22

* * *

**Songs for this chapter:**

*Living Inside by Level

*And then "The 5th of March" by Megaherz (listened to this for almost 8 hours straight...)

*Some song called "Corner Stone Cues; Mojave, track number four of Eton Path". I found it on this link (just erase the spaces)

www . youtube . com / watch?v = nuEGZVZqzqs&feature = PlayList&p =1ECB47B75FE9ACBD&index=65

Enjoy!

* * *

It starts as the same dream, although it ended slightly altered this time.

_Darkness. Then my vision becomes acutely aware, much like that of a predator's night vision. Red trails lining the ground, puddles of gored bodies of the enemy soldiers. The air is pugnant with the rich, coppery scent of blood. __Just as I am about to finish off the last of my prey, I suddenly am knocked off of my feet to the ground...the scene has changed to a forest. A flash of silver hair and green eyes, a sword plunging down to meet my stomach._

Real pain forces me to wake up with a start, and it takes several moments to realize my life is not truly endangered. But the hurting is still there, and the smell of blood...blood-

I notice two things right away. One, my head and chest are aching and I feel kind of sick. Two, I'm in Yuffie's room, on a spare bed.

It takes me a bit longer to notice something _else_.

"Fuck," I croak in my voice that's deeper from sleep and lack of use, scrambling to stumble noisily through the dark for the bathroom. I may be able to see better than I used to, but that's not enough to stop a half-awake person from tripping on pointy weapons that Yuffie's left out on the floor.

"FUCKing ssshiiiit!"

Yuffie, stirring, mumbles something half-awake in question, before groggily rolling over back to sleep.

I scamper in, find what I'm looking for, cursing Mother Nature for my womanhood.

After taking care of business, I checked back on Yuffie. Sound asleep. Honestly, and I thought I was a hard core sleeper...shouldn't my yelp from stepping on her damn shurikens have made her get up? So much for ninja senses.

I sighed, and glanced at the clock on the dresser. The red numbers glowed '3:47'.

Attempting for a moment to sit down under the covers again, I pondered over red...my favorite color...that used to remind me of Vincent, but now currently reminds me only of the bloody nightmares.

At that exact instant, a dull pang in the upper left part of my chest made itself known.

_Dammit all, I give up. I'm not getting any fucking sleep tonight._

Throwing the covers off with a huff, I decided to look for something to drink, maybe some aspirin (for this damn headache, as well as that rising ache in my chest,) and find a way to entertain myself. Sitting in one spot for hours would not work, and I doubt my hosts would appreciate me turning on the TV at this hour.

It appears everyone's asleep...well, no kidding, it _is_ a crazy hour. I wonder where they put those aspirin tablets anyhow...

I blink in surprise at the full trash can midway through pouring a glass of water. Why is it full of so many bottles of alcohol? Surely Yuffie and I didn't drink _that_ many...

A flash back of karaoke dancing on top of the counter my glass is now resting on changes my opinion rather quickly. Fuck. I'm going to have to deeply apologize to Tifa...and Cloud, I suppose, for my behavior. However, if it weren't for that pounding in my head telling me otherwise, I would drink myself drunk again, it made such a wonderful difference. I didn't have to think about anything, I felt so much more relieved than I have been in such a long time. Granted, it took quite a while for me to feel the effects of the alcohol, which is extremely odd. But then I _am_ some stupid experiment now, so anything's possible.

Great, back on the emo trail.

This is just as pathetic as when I moved out of my parents' house.

No, no, we are not getting back on that again. Optimism. Yes. Feel the positive chi, think of Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...yeah, think happy thoughts, like Peter Pan and Tinkerbell and you can fly. _And every fucking wish upon a star comes true_.

A sudden stabbing sensation in my chest makes me collapse against the counter, cringing.

_This is even worse than those panic attacks I had after moving out of my parents' house... What's wrong with me?!_

* * *

A brown-haired girl squeaked in terror, sitting upright in the blankets with a start.

"Denzel! Denzel!" She lightly shook her companion awake.

The boy in question rolled over with a light moan to face her. "Marlene? Another bad dream?"

Marlene nodded with wide eyes, schooching closer to her protector.

He frowned, brushing his bangs out of his face to see her better, and half-sat up. "...well, don't worry. We've got Cloud, and Tifa's here, so everything'll be alright."

Marlene smiled in response, then gave him a small hug, surprising Denzel slightly.

"And I have you, too, Denzel," she chirped.

He blinked, then slowly hugged her back, just glad that Marlene was happy again.

Then he felt her tense when they both heard the yelp from downstairs, followed by the shatter of glass, and the slamming of the front bar door.

Frightened brown eyes stared into worried blue ones.

Denzel swallowed, then his blue eyes and facial expression mirrored his idol, Cloud, in determination. "I'll be right back," he whispered, running out to the hallway.

* * *

This is so much like those "stress pains" I had that, for the most part, faded away about a year ago. The feeling that a sharp object is being twisted around from the inside, stabs coming in multiples, but only briefly.

It doesn't take me long to realize this is different.

I double over, clamping one hand over my chest, eyes scrunched tightly shut.

_Just don't breathe, don't breathe..._

I barely noticed the cup slip from my shaking hand before crashing to the floor.

My strained gasps of pain seem to echo in my ears, like I'm about to faint, and I feel the room swaying.

Somehow, I gain the presence of mind to half-open my eyes, in case I never heard someone come downstairs over that thumping of my heartbeat rushing in my ears, threatening to overcome me.

Instead of seeing the room, or even the spots that come with fainting across one's vision, it's the _red._

Lightly glowing red eyes widen.

I stagger hurriedly across the room in a panic to escape the house, throwing the door open with a loud crash, before running, running -

"**Ah ah ah, I believe we made an agreement." **The chuckle slithers into my mind, wrapping over the rest of my vision until it's all crimson tainted, and the strength in my limbs slowly ebbs away.

"...but..." I gasp, my voice barely audible to my own ears.

"**No host of mine will be incompetent in battle, pay attention**," Chaos growled, then I could hear the sneer, "**Furthermore, I feel the need to stretch my limbs, if you will.**"

A painful shifting in my back - then something moved when I stretched out of reflex.

The wings.

I become a viewer of my own body's movements, instead of controlling it.

_Why are we flying!? Where am I going?!_

My fear of heights reasserts itself beyond whatever Chaos has in store. How on earth did I manage to escape out the window of one of these buildings? I can't even remember really doing it...

A snort from the winged menace controlling my limbs answers my question.

Tall gray towers speed past my vision, and the demon brings me...us...outside the city limits, into the desert.

_...why are we here?_

I could detect other life forms in the area, although wherever they were, they certainly were hiding well. Apparently the majority of the weaker nocturnal monsters were intelligent enough to fear the ominous presence in their midst.

Some nightly activity continued as normal, though. Not too far off ahead, a herd of variously colored chocobos were warking in terror as they were pursued by several giant millipede-like creatures, their sharp mandibles easily larger than the birds' bodies.

Inside my mind, I screamed. _Bugs! Giant, hungry, big teethed bugs!_

"**Afraid of everything, are you?"** a drawl lazily responded.

_I've had just about enough of you, bitch,_ I think in response, without meaning for it to be 'heard'.

There's a very long pause, and I slowly realize with horror my mistake.

Too late, I feel myself thrown back into my own body, clutching my burning chest in agony, my hands tightened in fists -

Wait.

I manage to look down at my hands, only to see I was wrong. I have some "control", but it's not my own body.

"**Be grateful that if only for my own self-preservation I won't cause you any permanent damage, host**," the cold voice of my tormenter hisses.

Despite myself, I murmur, "...I hate you."

"**The feeling is mutual, I assure you. But if I have to endure living as a part of your pathetic mortal body, then I will expect your compliance.**"

I lift my head in confusion and worry, fearing what this thing will expect me to do. As much as I did not want to admit, I felt a twinge of pity for the being who was forced into this awkward existence, but barely.

Then I froze - a Millipede was scuttling in this direction.

**_Kill Kill Kill_**

As though I had planned on it all along, I've not only _haven't_ ran in the opposite direction for safety, I've leapt to meet the creature near the head, claw extended-

_-Riiiiiiiiiip-_

...with cat-like balance, land on my feet, right claw-arm dripping with black and green ooze that must be bug guts.

The ground shakes with a massive thump as the giant head lolls off to hit the ground, mandibles and all.

In shock, I haven't moved, panting.

_What just happened?_

Three other Millipedes scuttle- no, swarm around in anger over the loss of their brother, and immediately, as if by instinct, I spring to action again. With this darker strength, it's just so easy to rip through them all. They are weak, pathetic, and for all their giant mandible glory, never stood a chance. Three more heads are sliced off in a matter of moments.

Smirk.

The adrenaline rushing through my veins, the bloodlust, is so toxicly sweet, I feel a hunger to kill again, and again.

There's one more, attempting a feeble escape. Hopeless, of course, but I'll try a new tactic to make it suffer.

The beast is ripped apart in one long strike from above, effectively cutting it from head to tail, making a disgustingly potent mess that is absorbed quickly by the dry sand.

The chocobo herd, rather skittish by this point, and reasonably so, pauses in their tracks now that the predators have disappeared.

Hah. They forgot one...

* * *

The red-cloaked man could sense something amiss before he had even reached Seventh Heaven. Scanning the area for any danger, the only beings wandering the next few blocks wouldn't be any major danger to handle, but the gunslinger's suspicious feeling did not subside. Halfway through the city, and at this hour of night, it would have been unsafe for most civilians to be wandering the streets, but he was by no means a normal citizen. And...neither was that thing soaring above Midgar's polluted skies.

Vincent halted in his tracks. On a hunch, he switched directions, breaking into a run to follow the unknown winged creature. Should Cloud and the others have need to contact him, they would. He could feel the stir of several demonic presences inside him, thus confirming his decision, and drew Cerberus. Chaos, unlike the others, was oddly quiet.

By the time Vincent emerged from the edge of Midgar, he had lost sight of the creature, so he began a patient hunt. It didn't take too long to discover the blood bath trail, about a mile away from civilization. Five mutant millipede-like monsters, about forty feet long each, lay in various degrees of mutilation. Examining the marks on one of the bodies, he found long gash marks, like claws.

Chaos began to chuckle, though for what reason other than love of distasteful and mindless havoc, Vincent could not understand why.

He tracked the green-blood trail and erratic foot steps to the next body, a dead yellow chocobo, the red blood fresh and still oozing.

Unperturbed, the demonic gunslinger continued, until he came upon a strange sight indeed.

Surrounded by a ring of the dead birds, their feathers crumpled and spread everywhere, was a young woman crying, staring at her hands, and murmuring to herself.

Her arms and clothes were soaked with blood.

* * *

The blood...the red, it's everywhere, their screams are still in my ears, when I snapped their scrawny necks. I'm covered in it. I've gone mad. There's something very wrong with me. My hands are sticky, it's even under my fingernails -

Fingernails? I'm human? I wonder vaguely when that happened.

Tears stream down my face, and my mind is numb.

I feel a warning from the demon that danger is drawing near, that _he_ is here, but my limbs feel so weak, and my thoughts so fuzzy that I really could care less. It would serve me right. I'm a killer. I deserve to die.

But I don't wanna die!

Through tear-blurred vision, I make out a tall form with red eyes before fading to blackness.

* * *

"But I don't wanna die!" A tremor runs through her body before she collapsed to the ground.

Vincent stared down at the limp form of the blood-stained woman in front of him.

It seemed unfathomable that the girl could have committed such horrifying destruction, her face may have appeared innocent were it not for the smears of red across it, and the proof all over the skinny arms.

The gunslinger recognized her as the companion to the silver-haired woman he saw that day.

So..._she_ became that flying monster.

"**Bravo Valentine**," a sarcastic voice commented dryly, "**After all, you'd know nothing of being a monster yourself, hmm? Putting her out of her misery, are we?"**

He considered the Cerberus still in his hand, then re-holstered it.

"**Going soft?"**

"....one cannot interrogate the dead," he muttered shortly.

A ringtone for Tifa's phone went off.

Vaguely, Vincent wondered why Cloud hadn't called, but privately felt that the cheery children's " the Blue Bird" ringtone would not be appropriate here.

"Valentine speaking," Vincent greeted in his typical monotone, before holding the device far from his ear at the loud, voice that responded.

_"Hi Vincent!!! It's Yuffie, Tifa's with the kids, dumb ol' Cloud ran off without his phone to go find Jenni, since we think she's hurt or something! She probably has a nasty headache at least, 'cuz I know I do, she's a really competitive drinker, ya know that? But she didn't beat me, no, 'cuz I'm the best at drinking, even against Cid, even though he really shouldn't do addictions, I mean the cigarettes are already bad for you-"_

"Yuffie..._who_ was Cloud looking for?" Vincent massaged his temples. It was hard to be patient with his teammate sometimes, but he understood from their journeys with AVALANCHE that her endless chatter was sometimes due to nerves.

_"Huh? Oh, Cloud's on Fenrir, for Jenni Allens, er, Jennifer, You haven't met her yet, when are you gonna get your butt over here by the way, we haven't seen your red cloakedness in ages!"_

_"_...."

_"Oh, and Tifa wants me to tell you what she looks like in case you find her first, um, she's got red eyes like you, first off, and -"_

Vincent carefully lifted an eyelid to doublecheck.

"Tell Tifa I've already located the woman, unconscious, about a mile southeast of the border. I shall contact you after I retrieve some answers."

_"H-Hey! Vinny!"_ with a click, her indignant cries were turned off by the push of a button.

* * *

When I wake up, I guess that not much time has passed. It's still dark outside, at least. I fell asleep in the _desert_ at _night_? How stupid could somebody be to do that?

Then my vision focuses on that blob about 20 meters in front of me with frayed feathery wings, and I remember, whimpering, wishing it was a dream.

A small noise like a swish of clothing catches my attention.

I sit up in a rush, then my mouth surely dropped open.

From the stern, distant expression, to the red flowing cloak and bandana to match, to the red eyes _like mine_ and the golden gauntlet and strange shoes...Vincent Valentine, sitting right in front of me, on one knee, cleaning his gun, not even bothering to look up at my clumsy movement.

Of all the ways I could have envisioned meeting him, this was certainly _not_ on the list. And at the moment, I wasn't so sure I wanted to see him. Even if he was hot, and my absolute favorite character...oh come on, it's not a game anymore, Jenni, this is real, and that was the guy who was chasing you and Amy!

My mouth slowly worked a brilliant statement. "Y-you...?"

The gunslinger, my anime obsession since forever, barely paused to consider the strange outburst.

I became uncomfortably aware of the dried blood all over me, and looked away.

A long moment passed. Then that deep rich voice finally spoke,"You are Jennifer Allens, correct?"

I blinked, looking up again. "Um...yes."

The mysterious man stopped his ministrations with cleaning Cerberus, then re-holstered it; I quietly exhaled a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. Then his intense red stare turned to gaze at me, instantly making me feel nervous, afraid he could see right through me and know every dark secret about me somehow. Fear of him led to fear of myself, what I'd become. He'd know. And a selfish, angry part of me tried to put blame on him for what I'd become. At the same time, while frightening, his gaze seemed so beautiful, hypnotic, and I felt disappointed that I wasn't looking into his eyes in a different scenario.

I hope he can't read me like an open book.

"...What are your ties to Sephiroth, or Jenova?"

I stared, and I felt the blood drain from my face. Then did what I always do in the most inappropriate situations.

I laughed.

Hysterically, with tears of sorrow at the same time.

The gunslinger's calm features were replaced with narrowed eyes at my reaction, and his voice seemed tinged with a bit of foreboding. "Don't toy with me, who was that Remnant you accompanied yesterday afternoon?"

My mouth had clamped shut in fear the moment his opened, but now I began to sob uncontrollably.

"She...Am-Amelia...she was my friend, but it- it's all my fault-"

I buried my head in my arms, unable to look him in the eye anymore, scary glares or not.

There's a long silence again. I hope I don't have to go into great detail yet, Vincent. Please don't make me. I wince, remembering that ex-Turks probably know quite well how to get information out of people. Not that I'd hide anything, but that adds another hiccup to my nerves, since it seems he doesn't trust me well yet.

"....You were an experiment." It's a statement, not a question.

I snort. "Yeah. Stupid mistake, got me and Amelia in trouble. I was trying to get her to the hospital the day that Bahamut was making a mess of Midgar."

For once, when I glance up at the gunslinger, I think I see a flicker of empathy, not danger.

And so I start pouring my heart out, needing to tell somebody about what's been going on.

"I brought Amy there cuz' she saved me, but she ended up getting slashed by one of those things running around, the mini-Bahamut thingies-"

"Shadow Creepers," Vincent corrected monotonously.

I stammered, hoping to not sound too stupid, but being amazed that I was _sitting right here with Vincent Valentine!_

"Y-yeah, well so I find out after I've already gotten a job at the Shinra Memorial Hospital - where we went - that she's er, not being treated, she got ...experimented on. It made me so scared and mad, and some blond guy tried to help me out, but then we both ended up getting caught by Hojo-"

Shit, I said the H- word.

The hairs on my neck jump when I suddenly am looking down the barrel of Cerberus. Though that is nothing compared to the absolutely frightening feeling of being on the receiving end of his current glare, which could probably unnerve even Sephiroth.

"I would advise you not to test my patience with lies. Hojo was destroyed over two years ago."

Hell, I wonder what he'd do if I said anything about Dirge of Cerberus plot things, or that Lucrecia was stupid and that he shouldn't angst over a lady crazy enough to like Hojo.

Probably blow me up. Instantly.

Now, I may not have a quick temper, despite my foul mouth, but when I get accused of lying that destroys my very long fuse quickly.

I exploded, and stood up to my full patheticly mediocre height. "Well then who the hell did _**this**_ to me, huh? One minute I'm just a normal, stupid kid and I'm just trying to have fun and get by, the next my friend is a Sephiroth girl out to kill me, and I'm goin' all demonic and killing shit! I don't want this, I'm tired of the nightmares, I just want to go home!"

The demonic gunslinger rose to his much more impressive six foot stature, towering over me. Red eyes glared at each other.

Slowly, Vincent put Cerberus back at his side holster, crimson irises never leaving mine, before responding bitterly. "...perhaps you should learn to suppress your...demon... better then, for the time being." He nodded at the mess around us. The sickening mess **_I_** made. And then turned with a swish of his tattered cape at a brisk pace back towards Midgar.

My jaw dropped in hurt, then I yelled, at his back, following him, "_You_ should talk, jerk! You got four of 'em!"

Immediately, Vincent whipped around with a feral growl that chilled my spine, "_You_ know _nothing_. Stop behaving like a child."

Then, in a moment of outrage, I did something neither of us expected. I raised my hand to slap him.

My right wrist was tightly ensnared in the grasp of sharp, golden claws, high above my head. My fury ebbed away to fear again, then -

The most ridiculous, absurdly happy music ringtone started playing out of the blue, making me squeak. Vincent let it ring a few times, staring me in the eyes. I was afraid to meet his, but kept my stubborn face on. I am NOT a CHILD. I've had ENOUGH of people ordering me around, treating me like dirt, tearing me down, and telling me that no matter how much I try, I will be nothing but a worthless, selfish, stupid child.

Not the memory lane again...dammit.

I manage to look up again, just because the music is on its fourth ring, and is very out of place right here. With my emo thoughts. And the angry Vincent. And the bloody bird bath. Is he gonna answer it or what?

"...Don't. Do that. Again." And with that he released his iron grip roughly off of my arm, and answered the cell phone.

I rubbed the offended appendage lightly, scowling.

"Valentine."

_"Vince, the girls told me you found Jennifer? Is she alright? Did something happen?"_

I rolled my eyes.

"...For the most part." Vincent murmured, only answering half the question.

"Alright, well we'll see you two back here soon then?"

I looked up in horror. Go _back?!_ I'm dangerous, there's no way!

Vincent interpreted my look of horror quite easily, I'm certain.

"...Hn," he answered in the affirmative.

Why?! Are you crazy? He better teach me how to control Chaos then!...actually, I haven't even told him that I have the same demon as him yet. I wonder how that would work out, if he'd believe me, since he doubts the Hojo thing.

Although, I must admit, I'm confused as to how Hojo is alive if AVALANCHE killed him, and he's supposed to be part of Weiss later...oh well.

I struggle to keep up with Valentine's large gait, since my legs are shorter, and we head back through the growing dawn towards Seventh Heaven without a word of conversation.

I vainly hope it's partly that I'm radiating "I'm a fucking PMSing demon girl who's had a hangover and had a bad day!" waves, but it's probably all just Vincent being broody, antisocial, and in general my terrible first impression for him.

Fuck my life.

* * *

A/N: Hehe, yay, update. Review? :)

* * *


	17. Daybreak Dilemma

Hey everyone, long time no see! This chapter, true, is not as long as previous chapters, but I felt a need to make sure you guys knew the story still existed and was being worked on. ^_^;

By the way, any of you know how to get rid of unwanted multi-hour long dreams? 'Cause I get them DAILY. T_O;;;

Anyhow, alot of Cloud here, since he needs a turn! :D

Songs for Inspiration...Again XD:

*Sober by Pink

* * *

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_"Valentine." _

_Odd, _Cloud pondered, _he seems tense._

"Vince, the girls told me you found Jennifer? Is she alright? Did something happen?"

_"...For the most part."_

"Alright, well we'll see you two back here soon then?"

_"...Hn,"_ the swordsman had to assume that was Vincent's usual answer in the affirmative.

But before he could get even so much as a "bye" in, the blonde swordsman was left with a dial tone.

Cloud frowned sorely at the cellular device in his hand, as though the piece of metal was an opponent mocking him with its blinking message display of"Call Ended".

He could sense Tifa's concern from across the room, feel her eyes boring into the back of his head for a hint of news, but at the close of the phone call, she had steadfastly resumed washing the few dishes that had been originally left in the sink to do for the morning. A rarity, if Tifa ever set her mind to it.

Cloud's thoughts drifted once more with the repetitive soft clinks of her work.

What seemed to have Vincent irked so lately?

_"Can sins be forgiven?"_

_"...I've never tried."_

_"Well, I'm gonna try."_

And he had. Slowly, ever so slowly, Cloud was getting the pieces of his life back in order. Although his constant wandering off for longer delivery trips had no doubt worried Tifa to no end, she accepted that he needed his time to heal the mental pains before beginning a new life again. Many a day, it would just be him, Fenrir, and his trusty blade, living on instinct, mindlessly destroying the pesky monsters that occasionally swarmed the areas. Sometimes a cave in the desert miles from any town would suffice as a modest dwelling for returning to at dusk. Usually, it would be in this solitude, cleaning the filth off of Fenrir, perhaps vaguely being aware that a package existed beside him to be delivered, that Cloud would find his inner peace. Just a little moment, where he realized...perhaps the difficulty behind redeeming oneself of a life taint is not a measure of failures...but recognizing the small steps behind each victory.

His friend just had not recognized that yet. Or perhaps, was not willing to see it just now.

Understandable. After all, it had taken himself this long to start spending more and more time with Tifa and the kids, his special safety net, his family.

Deep blue eyes glanced over at the barmaid, and he smiled briefly. _Honestly, she deserves a better protector. But I will try to do the best I can. For Tifa. For all of us._

Deep in silent contemplation, Cloud nearly jumped out of his seat when his phone began buzzing on the table.

The blonde hesitated for just a moment, eyes narrowed, at seeing "Vincent Valentine" appear on the Caller ID. The gunslinger never, _never_ called.

"Yes, what is it?"

A panicked female voice answered out of breath, sounding almost to the point of hysterics, "_I dunno what the FUCK just happened here but Vincent's gone cra- AHHH! WHAT THE BLOODY-?! Oh my GAWD I'm gonna be sick_-"

That had to be Jenni. There were alot of other voices screaming in the background, making it difficult to register what was said. Cloud stood up and began pacing around the room.

"Jenni, what's going on down there? Where are you?"

Sobbing. "_I-is this Cloud? Ah-kay, uh, fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck where the hell is Seventh Heaven, I'm lost in the middle of this damn city, and -SHIT! WATCH IT! Vincent's turned into the-the most creepiest thing I've ever seen, it_-"

Cloud vaguely felt Tifa rush over to his side. Perhaps he was grasping the phone too tight- although he was shaking, he struggled to keep his voice firm. "Jennifer, I need you to tell me, what does it look like?"

"_Oh god...a bloody hockeyplayer with a chainsaw maybe? I didn't hang around long_," the girl gasped, then growled in annoyance, "_and yes I know it's_-"

"Hellmasker," they spoke in unison, leaving Cloud suddenly shocked - but not time for suspicion, if one of the gunslinger's demons was on the loose in the middle of the city, they had to get down there as quickly as possible.

Suddenly the line went dead.

"_Shit_," the swordsman smashed a fist on the wall, then winced at the crunch mark he left behind. Hopefully Tifa wouldn't notice.

Tifa was already slipping on her battle gloves when the blonde had holstered his sword securely and made the stride to the door.

"Tifa, please, I'll be right back, just stay with the kids-"

The brunette shook her head with a grimace. "No, Cloud. I can't let you go out there alone."

He lifted his arms up in protest, "Tifa, I d-"

A gentle hand covered his mouth with one finger, and wine colored eyes searched his. "I'm not letting you do this on your own."

A brief pause of silence, then Cloud exhaled, "Alright, Yuffie can watch the kids. We've been through worse before."

Tifa nodded encouragingly, but privately suspected Yuffie would be certain to arrive and aid them in subduing their demonic gunslinger ally as well; Marlene and Denzel would be safe enough in their room asleep at this hour.

As they left, the bartender murmured, "Dilly-dally, shilly-shally..."

* * *

A/N: Yes, that would be a cliff-hanger... ^^; please don't shoot me? I promise much lovely Hellmasker horrors and Avalanche-team-ness in the next chapter...along with popsicles for everyone who reivews! :P (Hot cocoa will be provided on special request.)

Cheers,

**~Rutilus**


	18. Urban Adversity

Yes, I'm still alive. Ish. XD My apologies for the delays.

This chapter is definitely one of the rated M ones, for lots of violence-y stuff.

* * *

Songs for Inspiration:

Session by Linkin Park

Reclusion by Anberlin

* * *

Nasty Midgar dirt covers my entire body, and it's not just from my earlier charming desert stroll, either. Add to that a good old mix of screaming people, roaring engines, and explosives beginning to rain down on the city, along with good old panic. And a certain creepy, already ticked-off gunslinger suddenly losing his marbles, destroying random shit in sight, including innocent civilians.

What a great way to start the morning.

That is, if I had gotten any real sleep to begin with.

Oh, you want me to back up? Hah, well let's rewind...

***A few minutes ago***

Once Valentine had completed his rather dry telephone communication session, he only vaguely spared me a glance over his shoulder before beginning the trek back through the desert towards the dusty sillouette of the heavily polluted city before us. I would have complained aloud at the unfairness of walking in my current exhausted and emotionally frenzied state, but for three things. One, our previous disagreement did not highly encourage me to provoke worse from the turbulent man than the sore arm I already possessed. Two, he was moving at such a quick pace that I doubt he would have even pretended to notice hearing me voice said protests.

Third, I saw something gold glimmer in his eyes for a moment, and felt a mental connection-type cringe.

So I ran after his long-legged gait as fast as I could.

Though, of course, I couldn't help but hiss a few lovely and very friendly words through gritted teeth (note the sarcasm) as various healing deep bruises that once were small wounds protested.

_Wait woah! That's kinda cool!_

I paused mid-jog, breathing a quiet chuckle as I admired the human body's ability to heal set in fast forward. I once had a teacher who, although her sanity may have been largely questionable, did have her heart in the right place and gave us all a piece of advice I've stuck to embracing all these years: "No matter what catastrophes or bad times might hit you, just focus on the one positive thing around you, and your heart can carry on. Focusing on the negative won't help you out any, so why bother?"

Hm. Well, it was kinda fascinating to my inner science geek to note my arm's progress, so I turned it over, back and forth, a small grin forming on my dirt-covered face, wondering even why I hadn't really _looked_ before.

It took me a moment to register that Mr. Red-Caped-Grouch was staring back at me, an eyebrow raised, having not heard my footsteps following faithfully behind.

I dropped my arm quickly, and ducked my head down with my shoulders in a blush as though afraid of being caught doing something stupid.

This time, _he_ waited for me to pass by _him_, which set me more than on edge, afraid of being mowed over by his quick pace.

For the rest of the trek back, though, things continued quite uneventfully, minus my appalled groan at how it was growing more and more daylight. Until we had reached about fifteen minutes worth into the city, at least.

A dull, low whirring in the distance.

I ignored it, merely taking in the dull gray buildings around me that I had failed to notice when I left originally, and wondering how anyone could tell where on Earth - oh, sorry, is it Gaia? that they were going without getting lost, since everything looked the same - dull ...and gray...but then Vincent's almost inaudible footsteps paused. I glanced behind me to see his brow knit in concentration, looking up, morning breeze blowing his long dark tresses and cape around elegantly...

Ah crap, why do I still have such a thing for the hottie who looked like he'd kill me this morning?

"Get down!"

I made an intelligent, questioning grunt, but was soon tackled sideways into the darker alley by a heavy object.

Not twenty meters from where we had stood seconds before, there was a flash of blinding light, and a thunderous, painful roar in my ears, causing me to shriek and clap my hands over my ears.

"Stay put here, and don't move unless I tell you," the deep voice was alot closer sounding than before - ah, so he was the heavy object that smashed into me - the metal crate here would have been much more painful.

A shrill whistle drowned out my response, before the earth rumbled and shook violently beneath my rear -

The low whirring had grown much louder, and the previously still morning was now quite suddenly buzzing with the fearful cries and shouts of hundreds of people pouring out of buildings - it was getting hard to hear myself shout.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?"

But as swiftly as Valentine had knocked me out of harm's way, he'd disappeared.

Of course.

Although my mind was screaming at me, _Run, run you idiot!_ when the next round of exploding whistlers was fired down I immediately ducked under the metal crate, feeling every shot's impact upon the tremulous, angry ground.

Luckily for my unquenchable curiousity (and that undeniable need to breathe) there was a small hinged flap on one side I could use as a peephole.

****

As soon as the gunslinger had decided the odd girl was in a relatively safer location, he sprung into action, swiftly dodging the helicopter fire whenever it ventured too close, and fired a few rounds of Cerberus in defense at the hovering aircraft.

It appeared that there were multiple Shinra-marked aircrafts, searching for someone or...something, perhaps an escaped specimen, from the amount of show the government was putting on at the moment. They also did not seem very perturbed about killing a few screaming and panicked civilians in their hunt.

_Hn._

Although he did not particularly care for the fate of this woman, his hatred for the idea of any creature being subjugated under Shinra's immoral medical professionals was enough to encourage the gunslinger to stop them.

Vincent quickly ran along the pavement towards the nearest building, sidestepping a few close call shots - (_hmph, it appeared as though they might have switched targets now. So be it._) and used the inertia to propel up the side of it and into the air with a backflip, sending a few well-aimed rounds at the cockpits of the two nearest vessels, before landing with ease in a bent-kneed squat.

-Bang-

One lucky shot from another pilot somehow struck the ever alert man in the back, knocking him a good distance before a wall got in the way, eliciting a groan from the gunslinger, who crumpled into fetal position. Although a normal human would certainly be dead or on the way in minutes, the enhancements from Hojo's work certainly had their benefits, and the less than holy blood in his veins surely would keep him alive, although the pain was certainly difficult to bear.

Vincent felt the Ancient one Chaos forcefully try to take over, and winced at the addition of demonic-inflicted pain in chest and headache from pushing mentally back, stumbling to his feet with determination, although there was a slight twinge of confusion as to why the rain of fire had not pursued him further-

Then the woman called Jennifer screamed.

_Shit._

Again his most powerful demon snarled and seemed to twist from his insides, his breath was staggering, and his vision was beginning to grow hazy -

As a last resort, sensing another demonic presence stir, Vincent shifted the control over to whatever was the lesser of two evils, hoping it would be the slightly more humane lycanthrope Galian Beast, and succumbed to the darkness.

****

When the giant echoes of destruction had started to grow a bit relatively quieter, I knew that they had gone past my alley hiding place and were cruising another area. _What WAS all of that about? It couldn't be me, right?_ _I'm not that scary or much of a threat...._or at least, that's what I wanted to hope.

I bit my lip and thunked my head against the side of the metal crate repeatedly, vaguely registering that the masses of bodies that had been rushing by in delirious hysteria had increased as the bombs did. Odd. I would have thought most idiots would have cleared out by now.

...Then again, I'm here.

What the hell AM I doing here still?

Right, Valentine told me to, and he's probably leading the air turrets away from the populace.

.....

_-Boomboomboomboomboom-_

_....._

_-Kaboombaboomboom-_

_....._

Out of an old habit, I started biting my nails. It's utterly frightening to know that at any moment your life could just end, but that you won't know if or when it will happen.

I considered for just a moment the notion of using demonic protection, then shuddered and immediately shoved the idea far into the back of my head. I did not want to be responsible for the deaths of the innocent people rushing around on the mainstreet. A vivid image flashed in my mind quite suddenly of human bodies shredded just like the chocobos this morning...

I think I'm gonna be sick...

-KaBoomBOOM**BOOM**-

I screamed as a round shot just a little too close to the alley and knocked me and my metal box protection flying.

OHMYGODOHMYGOD

Just run, just run, find 7th Heaven, ignore the fact that they are freaking COPTERS and -

I barely noticed my usual lack of agility had been much improved, and almost attributed it to just adrenaline in my panic. The sudden ceasefire was what caught me off guard. I checked a glance over my shoulder only to gape stupidly in fear.

There was a red streaming aura around Vincent's almost lifeless-looking body on the ground across the street.

Even though I'd seen it in the Dirge of Cerberus cutscenes many times before, it was completely different to view it firsthand. Not as in the "ooh cool" way, but the "Woah, woah, what the hell is that, cold terror prickling your spine" way.

In moments, a taller figure appeared, still wearing a shredded remainder of the former being's cape, but now possessing a deathly mask, with slits for glowing red eyes, (not just the irises) to peer through, and shrieked an evil scream-cackle, revving up a chainsaw longer than the arm holding it.

At that, my mouth finally let out a scream.

Half-slitted ruby irises glanced in my direction, then it noticed all of the other human flesh nearby that had frozen in terror.

Fire opened again from above, as though the helicopters wanted to restate that their presence should be held in more fear than the zombie-pyscho-horror that was greedily slicing apart at the nearest individuals, especially leaping at bold men wearing suits yielding guns or electro sticks to dice off their limbs.

Civilians were getting caught in crossfire, and now I really really wanted to hide under that metal crate again.

By some chance of fate, I happened to come across Vincent's abandoned cell phone lying on the ground, twenty feet from my current hiding place.

Flipping it open with cold and trembling hands, I searched down the contacts list and was able to contact Cloud for backup/HELP. Never had I been so relieved to hear that guy's voice.

Just when I blabbed that I knew that Vincent's particular demon was called "Hellmasker", I noticed that the helicopters had all but vanished in the past few minutes, as though they had given up a lost cause? No, probably going for backup against the unexpected fiend. There were still a good twenty Turks about on the ground. I was about to relay this message in a nervous tremor of sorts, when a blade was pressed against my throat, and a hand reached from behind me to press "End" on the cell phone.

"Sorry miss, but this migh' be my on'y chance outta 'ere alive," a nasty breath from a high male voice said into my ear.

Slowly he scuffle-dragged me, blade still at the neck, a bit closer towards the being that used to be Vincent.

I squirmed a little with a squeak when I realized his plan, but the knife just was pushed a bit more against my throat in retaliation.

I felt tears running down my face - I had a terrifying phobia of sharp objects, but that chainsaw by far was the most ungodly and horrifying sharp THING i had seen in my life. Walking around mangled, red-leaking flesh didn't really help. I swallowed and refused to look down at the gruesome ground.

"'Ey you!" the gross guy behind me hollered over Hellmasker's devilish cackles - it was hunched over, currently making fillet out of one of the Suit Killers, but turned to look over it's shoulder at the shout.

"D-don't move, or Ah'll cut 'er open! Ya hear, da gal's a hostage! S-stop! D-don't come any closer!"

+Vhwhiiirrrrrrrrrrrrr+

Hellmasker had risen to full height, making odd noises I deemed chuckles, and slowly stalked closer the entire time the guy spoke. I would have felt sorry for him, if he hadn't used me as the bait, and for the fact that _**I**_ had to be _between_ them.

At the last second, the Turk had decided to use the throwing knife on the opponent, and not waste the energy on the obviously not important enough human sacrifice, but to no avail. He and I both realized the same thing too late - that was armor on his upper torso, and the bullets hadn't even pierced it. The fancy throwing knife hadn't had a chance.

There was a sickening crunch mid-whirr as the man's bones were cracked apart by the blood-covered chainsaw - although I was currently more afraid for my own life, I still hoped the creep was dead before the bones were shredded. A hand went flying over my head, detached from it's body, the major artery spitting unneeded life source on my skin as it passed. I didn't care anymore, as long as _**I**_ didn't end up like that-

CRAPDEADEND

My eyes wildly darted about for an exit route before I came to the conclusion that there was none, and that I was trapped in an alley with a gleaming, blood-hungry demon blocking the entrance.

I slid into a sitting position weakly, hugging my knees, and quickly made frantic prayers, just to cover myself.

Closer, with the right arm hanging loosely and the left upraised, weapon at ready.

Definitely not the red eyes I was hoping to look into.

There's a stress pang triggered in my chest, and I instantly realize it was a natural one, not Chaos. I panic and start to plead that Chaos will do something, but there's no answer, as though I'm merely talking to myself so I try out loud-

"CHAOS DAMMIT HELP ME!"

Again emptiness inside - but now the chainsaw has stopped whirring, and the demon lowers it to his side, staring down at me. If the creature _could_ have facial expressions, I'm not sure what it would be right now, but I'm willing to bet confusion.

-shthuck-

A long piece of sharp metal suddenly appears from the middle of his chest, causing me to scream again (not that this an unusual occurrence today) and the being to stare stupidly down at its abdomen, before falling face first to the ground, not an arm's breadth away from my wide eyed, trembling body.

I stared at the body for a full ten seconds or so in dumb shock, partly making sure that it was not going to move, before drifting my eyes slowly upward to see the tired form of the blond haired once self-claimed ex-soldier standing there.

His Mako blue eyes seemed to glow in the dark of the alley, and even though I had always joked with my friends that I thought Cloud was a do-do brain and annoying, I certainly found him to be the most wonderful thing to look at in this moment. Damn, Tifa was lucky. But blonde is still definitely not my type, sadly.

"Jennifer, can you hear me?"

"...whut?"

"You've been in a state of shock, the others should be able to carry you home in a bit - Tifa and I took care of the rest of those Turks, she's healing some civilians right now. I'm going to take Vincent back on Fenrir."

Dumbly, and with a twinge of guilt at having momentarily forgotten that the thing that had attacked me used to be Vincent, I managed, "He's...not dead....right?"

Cloud shook his blonde spikes, appearing disgusted with himself, and slowly bent down to carefully remove his sword from Hellmasker's apparently not-so-impenetrable chest armor.

A dull red glow after the weapon was removed, and the form seemed to shrink down to size, and became that of an unconscious gunslinger, with yet another rip in the already-shredded cape now added.

I stared for the longest time at the man in front of me, then timidly walked around his body over to the swordsman, before bursting into sobs and hugging Cloud tightly.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and looked face-to-face with a forlorn Yuffie.

"Is it...true? The Turks did this?" She whispered with fear, looking between me, Cloud delicately lifting up the broken body of Vincent, and the mess of holes in the city littered with bodies.

I nodded weakly, and remembered vaguely that there had been an "almost relationship" between her and a certain red-haired guyfriend.

Her face immediately scrunched up, I was unsure if she was about to yell her head off, but instead she grabbed me in a much needed relief hug, and we both attempted to comfort each other, tears running for different reasons.

Over her shoulder, I noticed Cloud looked like he had wanted to scold Yuffie originally for showing up, but changed his mind in resignation.

After a bit of time had passed, (I'm not entirely sure how long - I believe we both started to doze from lack of sleep and exhaustion,) Tifa gently rubbed my shoulder to wake me up, and we silently walked back as a small group to the bar, which apparently was only a few blocks away, after all of that.

Somehow, we got upstairs, and I was led to some bed to fall asleep in, and I think Marlene might have given me a drink before I completely fell asleep, but I'm not sure.

All I know is, for once, I slept.

* * *

A/N: So next time will be at least either Amelia or Shannon, but I'm probably gonna have both of em in the next chapter. :D And I'm starting second semester in less than a week, yay! XD

It would be awesome if people left reviews, I know I dont update often but they are all read and very appreciated. :)


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